Great Peacock w/The Smoking Flowers & El Cantador: at The Basement (Nashville, TN) Sat. November 17, 2012

Great Peacock w/The Smoking Flowers & El Cantador

Folk, Pop, Rock

Nashville Scene Critic's Pick …

Is it uncouth to say that a married couple making records together reminds you of Ike and Tina? Is it slander? It seems like it might imply things we’d rather not talk about, but when local power-couple Kim and Scott Collins start trading lines on The Smoking Flowers’ new 2 Guns album, we can’t help but think of a folkier Nutbush City Limits. Maybe it’s the fuzz-country stomp or the inherent tension that comes along with being in a matrimonial situation that doubles as a band situation. (I’m in a band with my better half, and that shit ain’t always puppies and rainbows.) Granted, 2 Guns may not have the Ikettes singing in the background, but tracks like “The Juggler,” “The Wrong Kind of Man” and “El Matador” boil over with the sort of heat and chemistry you’ll find only between two long-term lovers. And unlike Ike and Tina, Kim and Scott harmonize pretty well offstage too. An album release show is always a party, but this one even more so, as the couple are also celebrating Kim’s recent triumph over breast cancer.

—SEAN L. MALONEY