AMG Review of Baby Got Away

Denise Sullivan
All Music Guide

Former wannabe-Texan Mary O'Neil got her group Virginia Dare back together after cohort Paula Fraser split to form Tarnation. That left O'Brien on autoharp, producer Greg Freeman on bass and O'Neil's husband Brad Johnson on guitar to perform her bleak little songs, which are made all the more creepy by her atonal Exene/Courtney Love-style vocals. With that same kind of dark, poetic, domesticated romanticism haunting the aforementioned artist's work, O'Neil's songs are stunning, made all the more shocking by the lack of drums; Barbara Manning sitting in doesn't hurt. The spine-chilling title cut, the unconventional "love" song "Ship Go Down," and the olde folk-melody combined with post-punk guitar of "Camellia" are highlights among ten other absolutely charming songs.