Amy Domingues is as in-demand as collaborators come. Her trademark cello sound has adorned dozens of albums by D.C. artists; she's the kind of player who makes bands figure out a song that could use some cello, just so they can get her on the record. In between all of her guest appearances, soundtrack work and involvement with chamber group Threnody Ensemble, Domingues has her own band, Garland of Hours (listen). The group's second album, "The Soundest Serum," is definitive proof that Domingues is no mere sidewoman. The nine-song outing isn't as mournful as one might expect. Songs like "Brick Eyes" and "Exit" don't exactly rock, but they are upbeat chamber pop numbers with a bit of muscle to them. Benjy Ferree, whom Domingues often tours with, opens the CD release show at the Black Cat's backstage.

--David Malitz (May 2007)

Mark Jenkins wrote about Garland of Hours' "The Soundest Serum" in August 2007 for The Washington Post:

The hardest-working cellist in D.C. post-punk, Amy Domingues has performed with Fugazi, Bob Mould, Brandon Butler and many others. She also maintains a band identity as Garland of Hours, which recently released its second album, "The Soundest Serum." Except for Domingues, who sings and plays cello and keyboards, the lineup is completely different this time. Butler or Scott Adamson drums on most of the tracks, Jonah Takagi plays bass and Mary Timony contributes guitar to two songs.

If "The Soundest Serum" is not exactly a rock album, neither does it stress Domingues's more experimental interests. Eight of the nine tracks are songs, rooted in European madrigals and Appalachian ballads. Elopement leads to murder in the opening "Dear Henry," while "My Young Man" is the lament of a young woman who first gets a Dear Jane letter and then gets drunk. Sea chanteys and old-timey laments are all too common in today's indie-pop, but Domingues distinguishes hers with a limpid, often multi-tracked soprano and complex, inventive arrangements that encompass classical, jazz, prog-rock and the Velvet Underground.