Offbeat Magazine 5/02
by Alex Rawls
Myshkin's Ruby Warblers
Rosebud Bullets
(Double Salt)

Too many New Orleans records are too eager to please. Like the kid who invites everybody to come over and play his Nintendo because he's afraid no one will like him if he doesn't, too many bands want people to dance to the grooves they're comfortable with and hear songs they can get right away. As a result, a lot of local records lack the mystery and challenge that are the hallmarks of the best art. These thoughts are provoked by Rosebud Bullets, the new album by Myshkin's Ruby Warblers. Myshkin speaks in a personal lyrical and musical voice on the record, and the result is one of the strongest local records of the new year.

Folk may be the tradition Myshkin comes out of, but she isn't constrained by the form. Instead, it's the launching pad for songs you might expect-"Cory Jo"-and songs you won't-"Kankakee," the latter a galloping, exotic song about pirates, kings and conquest. There are a number of similar songs, each story having a purpose, but the purpose isn't immediately clear. Similarly, her torchy vocal on the elegant "Ruby Warbler" marks the song as a melancholy one, but the exact cause and nature of the melancholy is something listeners will figure out over time.

Though Rosebud Bullets isn't an immediate disc, it isn't a difficult disc. The songs don't require unusual patience or endurance, but they don't fit comfortably into one genre. Like P.J. Harvey, Myshkin has vision, and Rosebud Bullets is the product of someone who has realized "pretension" is only a dirty word if the art doesn't work.