Reviewer: Les Reynolds at Indie Music ...review on the web

Feeling mistreated? Out of sorts? Hate your job? Indignant -- thinking the world is just not fair? Then the songwriting genius of NYC's Jenn Lindsay is for you.

Jenn's outspoken five-song EP almost reads like a series of television vignettes, a series of small plays that actually started out in her own life. Her words contain acid and also compassion. Even in her intro letter sent with the CD, she writes: "Hopefully this collection of ditties will help everyone to feel like they are part of one enormous, happy unemployed family..."

Ditties? This word from the same woman who, in the CD's liner notes, thanked "The Man and other jerks who ousted me from the workplace." Ouch! But, many of us have been there.

And that, perhaps, is where the genius lies -- in her ability to take these unfortunate situations and make them universal, and even at times to convey some hope.

Ironically, Jenn's voice almost seems counter-thematic to the entire feeling of the CD. It's a sweet, soft soprano with a hint of smoke. The stripped down, sparse instrumental arrangements work well with that effect and force you to pay attention to the words.

"Paper" starts things out with quick chord strumming and nice vocals that get a bit more intense as the feeling darkens. She writes in part:

"I will do it right next time...
Then I cleaned my desk out
When they told me to get out...
My smile turned upside down
It always winds up that way..."

"Shoo Fly Shoo," is one of those tunes that's infused with a little bit of hope, of holding one's head up.

"Five minutes too late
Your head's on the plate
They look at you
They say shoo fly shoo
...When they tell you to leave
You should go right then.
Don't beg for something you don't want...
...You're not a number cruncher
Always a dreamer
There's nothing wrong with what you'd rather do
Don't be afraid..."

The "fired" theme continues throughout. "You Not Me" is one of those ironic-sounding songs, with a happy banjo and Jenn's sweet voice:

"Eight times fired since last December.
Eight times no longer a paycheck maker...
I sit and write on a wet storm drain
The water seeps through my pants to my $100,000 brain...
Can't you see what I wanna be?..."

And. although it is a totally appropriate genre, we'll save the last cut for a "surprise." Let's just say she delves into rap and leave it at that.

And although there are no real surprises with Jenn, there's always a bit of shock value to her songs. She comes straight at you with lyrics that sometimes bite hard. They show us where we've been, maybe where we are, and sometimes even where we truly want to be.