Reno Gazette-Journal
Mark Earnest

The New York duo Rat Wakes Red includes singer-songwriter-guitarist James Raftery and producer-viola player Jeral Benjamin. On "Dizzy on Daddy" (Rat Disk) they play drumless neo-folk songs with a gothic edge that suggests more Cure than Nick Drake. Raftery's expressive voice (often multi-tacked for layered harmonies) spill tales of love lost-and -regained that rarely succumb to cliché. Fans of the darker side of mellowness (or classic 4AD records) should seek it out. It's a self-release available on Amazon and CDNow, too.