"Only one of the disc’s nine songs is truly solo—the disc features a full studio band and contributions from producer Paul Burch, whose Nashville studio was used for the sessions. But there is a cryptic intimacy to the lyrics (“You had to share your sense of sweat and smell/In order for the demons to subside,” from “Shake It Rock-N-Roller”) that sounds new.
“I‘ve never had stage fright,” Bhowmik says. “I’m pretty fearless in a rock ’n’ roll band setting, and in this lineup now I have four people who are playing with me. But it’s still feels like I’m so much more naked. It’s strange. It’s therapeutic, but it also feels like I’m teetering on this whole other place.""
-- Matthew Everett Connect Savannah, Savannah, GA - 8.23.11 "Her name is hard to pronounce, but Shonali Bhowmik is, well, kind of unforgettable. The native of Nashville, now a resident of New York City, has just put out her first solo record, 100 Oaks Revival ... and its sweetly emotive pop-flavored folk reminds me - a lot - of Bangle Susanna Hoffs and the stuff she did with David Roback and Kendra Smith on a little-heard Paisley Underground album called Rainy Day."
--Bill DeYoung Savannah Morning News, Savannah, GA - 8.24.11 - An interview with Shonali by Linda Sickler Charleston City Paper, Charleston, SC - 8.22.11 "If songwriter Shonali Bhowmik's long-running career in pop-rock demonstrated giddy and raw tension, her solo album detours into a new mood altogether. A native of Nashville, she spent years singing and playing guitar in melodic indie-rock bands in Atlanta before relocating to New York City. Bhowmik's newly released solo album 100 Oaks Revival, a bare-bones collection, aims for something much more melancholic." "Morose, dissonant, and eerie, 100 Oaks Revival's opening track "All Her Things Come Easily" is a startling surprise to those familiar with Bhowmik's pop-rock past. "Star Treatment" is a drowsy gem with a swingin' beat that may remind listeners of the more festive offerings of the Elephant 6 collective. "Alligator's Tale," one of the upbeat songs of the set, bounces with a gritty heaviness. Even in a straight-ahead rocker like "Hold My Place," there's an airy, chilled-out sparseness. The strummy "What's Inside of Your Heart," a snappy ballad with Bhowmik handling acoustic guitar and vocals, closes the album with beautiful harmonies." -- T. Ballard Lesemann Stomp and Stammer, Atlanta, Georgia - 5.2.11 Tigers and Monkeys have so reliably punched out. The overall mood of the recording is more wistful, relaxed, reflective and at times decidedly melancholy. That said, it's a beautiful, slow-building, softly stirring pop album, with direct, effective lyrics and more expansive instrumental interplay than Bhowmik's been known for-" --Jeff Clark Unfairly Talented Entertainer Shonali Bhowmik Goes Solo | newyork.nearsay.com | 03.14.11 "Shonali Bhowmik is, at the very least, a double threat: part of the fierce female comedy troupe Variety Shac, and leader of the Brooklyn band Tigers and Monkeys. (The fact that she's also a lawyer is just plain unfair.) Her new solo album, 100 Oaks Revival, is a bit different from the hard-rocking work she has done with her band: as she describes it, it's mellower and spookier. The show promises surprise guests, but one of those cats is already out of the bag: Janeane Garofalo. I won't be too surprised if she spends her between-song lulls explaining Fermat's last theorem while performing emergency appendectomies." —Brett Ackerman The 100 Oaks Revival Interview with Shonali Bhowmik - Prince of the City, NY, NY - 3.17.11 "Shonali Bhowmik has spent years in New York’s music and comedy scenes. I caught up to her to talk about her new album, the benefits of the internet to the music industry and being a Southern Belle…" ---Gamal Hennessy |
