Wide Right

• Wide Right [Wide Right EP, 2002] A-
• Wide Right [Poptop, 2003] A-
• Sleeping on the Couch [Poptop, 2005]  

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Wide Right [Wide Right EP, 2002]
"Rock and Roll fueled by cheap beer and Gibson guitars"--and a mother of two born "Rust Belt Girl." On this Web-and-gig EP, Leah Archibald claims not indie Buffalo music maker Ani DiFranco but working-class Buffalo actor-musician-painter-architect-handyman-j.d. "Vincent Gallo." She hopes she doesn't get stuck in her hometown like "Pete Best." And nevertheless produces a song about the road back, a joyous thing even when she stops in Binghamton so the kids can pee. A-

Wide Right [Poptop, 2003]
Poptop as in beer, not music. Leah Archibald runs a rock band, Jim, as down-the-middle as Mellencamp or the Iron City Houserockers. Straight-speaking voice-guitar-bass-drums is her native language, so ingrained she'd fit right in on a stoner comp if she had a touch of flash. But Wide Right don't or can't preen. They serve up none of the virtuoso macho that make down-the-middle rock fans feel better about their prospects. Some longhaired bozo vaunting his wanderlust over these arrangements would be worse than a bore. Archibald gets over by singing as who she is: a Rust Belt mom who rocks in her spare time and writes fierce breakup songs to a fickle drummer and a jerk at work. She appreciates the simple things. Foremost among them is this generic music that when you think about it is unique in history. A-

Sleeping on the Couch [Poptop, 2005]
See: Grownup Music.  

See Also

• Grownup Music: Wide Right [2005-05-31]