Morning in a New Machine

What does it take to work wonders with small things? Try taking a reverential approach to American folk music, taking it back to when small things mattered. Brooklyn-based duo Dubl Handi does just that, avoiding contemporary cleverness. It also helps that the female half of the group, Hilary Hawke, is a virtuosic banjoist who also sings those homespun lyrics in an unaffected and charmingly androgynous soprano. In case you’re wondering, the band's name is also old timey in origin; it's the brand of washboard that the group's other half, Brian Geltner, uses for percussion alongside his drums, when he's not playing keyboards or the Marxophone (an early 20th-century fretless zither arrayed with a set of keyed hammers). Hawke also plays guitar, and Geltner provides unadorned but exhilarating harmony vocals. The pair get further support from guests on pedal steel, acoustic guitars and trombone, but the production remains light and translucent. The two original tracks, written by Hawke, are pretty and pleasant, though not as powerful as the traditional material, such as the good-natured instrumental ‘Flop Eared Mule’ and the rollicking love plaint ‘Don’t it Get Trouble in Your Mind’. These may be city folk, but this is an honest down-home invitation to a good time hootenanny.