"Carolyn Mark, the rootin'-tootin' roots music darling of Victoria, BC, does little to dispel the longstanding myth that booze consumption and creativity go hand-in-hand. Roughly half the songs on her third full-length address drinking, from a tongue-twisting diatribe about men who favour white wine ("The Wine Song," inspired by Nick Lowe) to the repentant finale "Hangover," complete with banged-up piano and a head-hung-low sing-along. Mark even includes a recipe in the liner notes, for those who wish to sample the Bourbon Decay, the libation mentioned in the rollicking "2 Days Smug and Sober." But there's more to Mark than just the smartass who can fire off internal rhymes for "gewürztraminer." Pros and Cons, which features lively accompaniment from the New Best Friends (which includes longtime cohort Tolan McNeil on guitar as well as violinist Diona Davies of Po'Girl), also doubles as a scrapbook of Mark's misadventures. "Chantal and Leroy," "Yanksgiving," and the stripped-down "Jody and Sue" (with backing vocals by Kelly Hogan) are charming autobiographical episodes illuminated by Mark's seasoned voice and off-the-cuff delivery. "I don't know what I'm doing or where I should go," admits the artist on the disc's catchiest original, "Not a Doll." No worries. Whether she lands on her feet, or ass-over-teakettle, Mark always sounds like she's having fun." - No Depression Magazine