Puss N Boots - No Fools, No Fun (2014)

Posted By: Designol

Date: Nov. 10, 2024

After playing live together since 2008, Sasha Dobson, Norah Jones and Catherine Popper have at last taken their collaboration into the studio. No Fools, No Fun with the release of their debut album on Blue Note Records. The trio, known as Puss n Boots after flirtations with such monikers as Fangbanger, Dixie Fried and Shitstorm, recorded the album at Studio G in Brooklyn with engineer/mixer Joel Hamilton. 'No Fools, No Fun' includes five original songs two each from Dobson and Popper and one from Jones and seven spirited cover tunes, all culled from Puss n Boots live repertoire. The 12-song collection takes its name from the lyrics of 'Bull Rider,' a Rodney Crowell song made famous by Johnny Cash. 'Bull Rider' is one of three album tracks that Puss n Boots recorded live in June of 2013 at The Bell House. Over the years, they have also performed at the Bridge School Benefit, played stadiums with the Beastie Boys on the 'Get Out The Vote' tour and joined Wilco onstage at Madison Square Garden, singing background vocals on 'Jesus, Etc.', a song that Puss n Boots interprets on 'No Fools, No Fun'.

Puss N Boots began performing in N.Y.C. nightclubs in 2008 but didn't deliver their debut, No Fools, No Fun, until the summer of 2014 – a pretty good indication that this group was intended as something of a lark. All three musicians – Sasha Dobson, Catherine Popper, and Norah Jones – keep themselves busy with solo day jobs that range from in-demand supporting musicians to full-time superstars, but Puss N Boots affords the trio an opportunity to indulge in their shared love of country and other pieces of ramshackle Americana. Jones has another part-time country band, but where she's the frontwoman for the Little Willies, Puss N Boots is decidedly a collaborative affair, finding Jones, Dobson, and Popper harmonizing and trading leads, often within the course of a song. The group follows no straight path and neither does No Fools, No Fun. It's half covers, half originals, part live and part studio, the different parts sitting side by side, adding up to a curious record whose raggedness feels like a statement of purpose. Puss N Boots celebrates the moments that don't add up, the places where the present blurs with the past, delivering songs with a sly wink that camouflages a teary eye. No Fools, No Fun is never rowdy – the closest it comes is the train-track beat of Jones' original "Don't Know What It Means" – but there's an earthiness to the trio's chemistry that signals how deeply the group members know each other's strengths and weaknesses. This is where Puss N Boots' long history of woodshedding pays off: far from sounding like a busman's holiday, there's a shared past that's evident in every moment of this debut, and that natural, relaxed camaraderie is the reason why No Fools, No Fun is such an appealing listen.

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com

Puss N Boots at Allmusic
Puss N Boots at Wiki

Tracklist:

01. Leaving London (3:08)
02. Bull Rider (Live) (3:39)
03. Twilight (3:10)
04. Sex Degrees Of Separation (3:17)
05. Don't Know What It Means (2:27)
06. Down By The River (Live) (5:29)
07. Tarnished Angel (Live) (3:46)
08. Jesus, Etc. (4:12)
09. Always (3:19)
10. Gto (4:10)
11. Pines (2:39)
12. You'll Forget Me (3:04)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 19. August 2014, 21:45

Puss N Boots / No Fools, No Fun

Used drive : PLEXTOR DVDR PX-891SA Adapter: 0 ID: 2

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy 1.0\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
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1 | 0:00.00 | 3:08.27 | 0 | 14126
2 | 3:08.27 | 3:39.07 | 14127 | 30558
3 | 6:47.34 | 3:10.18 | 30559 | 44826
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9 | 29:08.72 | 3:18.50 | 131172 | 146071
10 | 32:27.47 | 4:10.04 | 146072 | 164825
11 | 36:37.51 | 2:38.41 | 164826 | 176716
12 | 39:16.17 | 3:03.70 | 176717 | 190511

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename K:\Lossless Temp\Puss N Boots\Puss N Boots - No Fools, No Fun - 2014 (Blue Note Records, 0602537836055, E.U.)\Puss N Boots - No Fools, No Fun.wav

Peak level 97.1 %
Extraction speed 2.6 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 7484D79D
Copy CRC 7484D79D
Copy OK

No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [7384E469] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [C7D0D05F] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [E23BC720] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [0F8CCF21] (AR v2)
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Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B9C16376] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [169C450C] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [5F66BBB7] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [54043FDD] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [F81F6E90] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6C717311] (AR v2)
Track 12 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B1256E10] (AR v2)

All tracks accurately ripped

End of status report

==== Log checksum E4A4952C9DFA10385E88C8EC80E2077A895AA57945C8C1E5B8622258D7A6B458 ====

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-04-04 16:22:27

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Puss N Boots / No Fools, No Fun
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR10 -0.36 dB -12.10 dB 3:08 01-Leaving London
DR10 -0.40 dB -12.00 dB 3:39 02-Bull Rider (Live)
DR8 -0.37 dB -10.19 dB 3:10 03-Twilight
DR9 -0.38 dB -12.23 dB 3:17 04-Sex Degrees Of Separation
DR7 -0.32 dB -9.21 dB 2:27 05-Don't Know What It Means
DR8 -0.25 dB -9.94 dB 5:29 06-Down By The River (Live)
DR9 -0.36 dB -11.30 dB 3:46 07-Tarnished Angel (Live)
DR10 -0.38 dB -11.82 dB 4:12 08-Jesus, Etc.
DR8 -0.25 dB -9.89 dB 3:19 09-Always
DR9 -0.36 dB -11.44 dB 4:10 10-Gto
DR11 -0.40 dB -14.03 dB 2:39 11-Pines
DR9 -0.38 dB -12.51 dB 3:04 12-You'll Forget Me
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 12
Official DR value: DR9

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 777 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

All thanks to original releaser

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