In my other other other life, I'd open up a bar - Carolyn Mark from "Yanksgiving"
Victoria singer-songwriter Carolyn Mark's third proper album saw the born performer hitting her stride in the studio. Even then, her voice carried the weight of experience of someone three times her age as she sang contemporary classics by Jr. Gone Wild and The Movie Stars, and perfected her signature brand of ferocious, honest, resolute, and humorous lyricism. The Pros and Cons of Collaboration fleshed out such subject matter as the slight tainting of Thanksgiving by a feeble Toby Keith half-time show, a lustful dream featuring Vincent Gallo, the impossibility of love with a man who drinks white wine, and so much more, all set over collaboratively performed arrangements lushly recorded by Tolan McNeil at Lucky Mouse Studios.
She has the perfect voice for the style of country that she sings... She sings very honestly and her songs portray what goes on in her life. - Music Emissions
The Pros and Cons of Collaboration is the most satisfying alt country album I've heard all year. Carolyn Mark has created a frequently funny, always enjoyable record that keeps the fun alive from track one to track twelve. - indieville [#12 on their Best Of 2004 list]
Really there’s no roots-country chanteuse as engaging as Mark, whose well-intentioned banter is capable of making even the sourest puss at a show crack a smile. And even if she can’t win everybody over, it sure is fun watching Mark try her darnedest to in between weaving heartfelt ballads with stream-of-consciousness folk tales that sound like they were lifted from the workbook of a seasoned comedienne. Translating that live energy onto record seemed effortless on Mark’s previous albums and a similar mission is accomplished on her sparkling new collection, Pros and Cons. - Exclaim!
Mark has proved herself to be a sharp-tongued, tough, funny songwriter, able to stand comfortably on her own wiseacre merits... From its tongue-in-cheek opening overture (which seems to spoof everything from Aaron Copland to Tommy) to the even thicker tongue-in-cheek "Outro/Credits" (complete with narration by a man who doesn't sound unlike Seinfeld's J. Peterman: "It's been said that behind every great woman you'll find six to ten men working their nuts off"), The Pros and Cons of Collaboration is simply a delight. - PopMatters
The nakedness of the songs show a softer, quieter side of Mark, but she sings through it all with the same warmth and humour that has always made her music so likeable. - ChartAttack
Pros and Cons of Collaboration may just be her most diverse and impressive record yet. It's melodically simple, unmistakably country, coyly romantic and, just as every great artist has something that not many around them utilize, wonderfully crude. Carolyn exudes sex with her voice but also demands respect for her obvious-as-day talent and true blue country heart... The Pros and Cons of Collaboration is one of the best albums I've heard so far this year. - CokeMachineGlow
Whether she lands on her feet, or ass-over-teakettle, Mark always sounds like she's having fun. - No Depression Magazine