Video: The Living Sisters, ‘Kadoka, South Dakota’
Kevin Bronson on
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Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed – today is “Small Business Saturday,” so get thee out to your neighborhood retailer – we feel comfortable sharing what is already our favorite holiday album in quite some time. It’s the Living Sisters’ “Harmony Is Real: Songs for a Happy Holiday,” a 12-song sugar cookie of holiday-themed originals and covers. Even if you’re averse to seasonal kitsch, there’s plenty to like here – the side project of four L.A. sirens with estimable solo careers, the Living Sisters (Eleni Mandell, Becky Stark, Inara George and Alex Lilly) revive the harmony-drenched pop of the female-fronted vocal groups of the 1950s and early ’60s. One of the eight originals, “Kadoka, South Dakota,” is an ode to the burg (pop. 654) where Mandell (who directed the video) stopped while on tour for a roadside meal and came away with a healthy dose of Midwestern hospitality. And, she adds, “I thought the words Kadoka, South Dakota had a nice ring to them. “Harmony Is Real’s” covers are arranged artfully – even “Jingle Bells” doesn’t sound tired here – and you’ll smile at the winking advice in “Skip the Sugar (Good Girl).” Aw, just one more bite?
||| Stream: “Jingle Bells”
||| Live: The band will host “The Living Sisters: A Holiday Bonanza” on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
[…] like George and Kurstin have been slacking — since that initial release George has performed with the Living Sisters, been involved in myriad charitable activities and become a mother. Kurstin has co-written and/or […]