Warsaw-based singer-songwriter Agata Karczewska released the rootsy Not My First Rodeo EP a few weeks ago. Accented by her gravelly growl, it’s a remarkable set that—to borrow the immortal words of a long-gone TV show—is a little bit country and a little bit rock ’n’ roll. The four-track, 18-minute outing reminds me somewhat of Rhode Island Americana maven Charlie Marie, whose “Soul Train” I still take for rides from time to time. But while Charlie conjures the offspring of Patsy Cline and Dwight Yoakam, Agata mixes-and-matches DNA acquired from Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and PJ Harvey.
The EP kicks off with “Rodeo,” a lighthearted yet serious lament that finds her oversharing like tipsy folks sometimes do with new hires at year-end parties. It’s stacked with brief verses, such as “I wish I could say/That I’m something more than tired/Identify as straight from hell” and “How can we laugh so hard/Yet never be joyful/Maybe it’s just living in a Christmas song.” The latter hits home with me, especially, as the holiday season reminds me of departed loved ones more than anything.
“Dark Horse” offers a twang-infused portrait of the modest souls who lead lives outside of the spotlight’s glare: “She’s carrying wonders on her shoulders/She’s not eager to compete/In any wishful game/Collecting trophies on the bookshelf Near Shakespeare and handsome Jack/But far away from Plath.” “Go Ahead,” on the other hand, recognizes the dynamics sometimes at play in relationships; it possesses a tongue-in-cheek quality, equating the truth to faded tattoos and including this telling couplet: “Because the night speaks the lines of lovers/No dictionary ever got it right.” The tune includes a tasty guitar break, too.
The EP closes with the moody and bluesy “Harvest,” a tempered tour-de-force that turns harvesting crops into something much more: “It will come, it will come some time/Nail me to your shiny cross/Hate me I’ve seen enough.”
Karczewska has two previous releases to her credit—her solo debut in 2019, I’m Not Good at Having Fun, and an outing last year with John Porter, On the Wrong Planet. Like Not My First Rodeo, they’re well worth one’s time.
The Old Grey Cat 