Personnel: Mike Clem (vocals, guitar, harp); Robbie Schaefer (vocals, guitar); Eddie Hartness (vocals, percussion); Julie Murphy (vocals); Rickie Simpkins (fiddle).
Audio Mixer: Billy Wolf.
Recording information: Bias Recording, Springfield, VA (01/1997).
Photographer: Treb LePrade.
On their fourth album, Eddie From Ohio continued to pursue their brand of percussive, harmony-laden folk music and to rely on the increasingly quirky songwriting of guitarists Robbie Schaefer and Michael Clem. Schaefer, who again had the slight edge in titles, remained the more conventional of the two, though his increasing interest in oddballs on songs like "I Don't Think I Know Me" and "Omar's Got a Problem" suggested he was being influenced by his bandmate. Nevertheless, he retained an interest in the travails of relationships and raising children in "Under David's Feet," "Big Noise," and "Undone." Clem, on the other hand, thought nothing of devoting songs to the problems of driving in New Jersey, the effect of bowling on family life, and the wonders of ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn. And his best composition was one you wouldn't find on the track list at all, the hidden track "The New James Bond." Musically, the revelation of the record was singer Julie Murphy. Murphy had taken to making solo albums in between EOF releases, and it showed. She had always been a good singer, but on Big Noise she blossomed, finding her own phrasing and getting inside the songs in ways she never had before. No wonder she handled almost all the lead vocals. ~ William Ruhlmann minimize