Put Your Needle Down

The second release by The Secret Sisters (actual sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers) expands on the mood and feel of their charming 2010 debut. That one was good; this one is exceptional. Echoes of The Everly Brothers, Kitty Wells, Peggy Lee, and Patsy Cline ring throughout *Put Your Needle Down*. Yet the sisters\' own style is now defined enough to stand on its own. Their debut was mostly covers, but this time the Rogers sisters wrote or cowrote most of the songs. One notable cowriter is Bob Dylan; \"Dirty Lie\" was an unfinished \'80s Dylan demo that the sisters polished up, giving it a smoky \'50s vibe. Their own songs still nod to classic country and \'50s vocalists, but the mix here has more blues and rock. There\'s also an edge. Don\'t let the sweet vocals and honeyed close harmonies fool you—these sisters tell some dark, Southern gothic tales, supported by an ace backing band and producer T Bone Burnett. Sophisticated and assured, *Put Your Needle Down* is an impressive leap forward for The Secret Sisters.

The Secret Sisters, the singing and songwriting duo of sisters (it's really not so much of a secret) Lydia and Laura Rogers, hit the O Brother Americana vein with their self-titled debut album in 2011, a T-Bone Burnett-produced facsimile gem that reimagined and re-created the feel of 1940s traditional country and honky tonk, made more than that by the bright, assured distaff Everly Brothers-styled singing of the two sisters.

The Alabama duo take a step forward by unveiling some of their own material, writes <strong>Neil Spencer</strong>