Toothache, Lydia Loveless (from the Bloodshot Records release Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again)
Relationships are messy and few songwriters capture that fact better than Lydia Loveless. One need look no further than “Song About You”, the confessional ballad that opens their latest album. Against the backdrop that is mostly a lone electric guitar, Loveless admits an inability to maintain a relationship. “Cuz I love you but I don’t know how,” they confess before later admitting, “I wanna write a song about you, used to be so easy to do.”
That somber beginning gives way, literally and perhaps figuratively, to the rocking “Poor Boy”. An insistent and electric guitar-fueled rhythm creates a noisy backdrop as Loveless proclaims, “I need to clean up my mess and leave the poor boy alone” even as they reveal a conflicted point-of-view, “But I wanna get in his head; I don’t wanna fuck with his head.”
Things get even more intense on “Toothache”, a song about anything but. “A minor inconvenience or a catastrophe,” they ask at the start of the song as pounding drums and guitar power chords set an aggressive tone. The song’s true meaning is rapidly revealed as said toothache rapidly becomes a headache and then a heartbreak. Lest anyone doubt where Loveless stands, it is made plainly clear: “Don’t wanna tow the line just to spin out on the freeway, cuz now there’s nothing left to save”.
“French Restaurant” is a pop gem that chronicles a couple breaking up over a fancy dinner. “Tears welling up by candlelight, getting ready for another stupid fight,” Loveless sings, “at least we’ll have an audience this time.”
“French Restaurant” and “Toothache” share a common thread in that they feature some of Loveless’ most cathartic vocal performances. In the former they demonstrate some restraint before loudly exclaiming “all you ever asked of me was just a little bit of goddamn honesty”. While most of the latter is somewhat restrained, it’s hard to escape the raw emotion when Loveless spits out “Cuz I’m always shooting for high fallutin’ and then I choke; and it’s not that I’m losing, I just keep using the only way I know”. Intense.
Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again is arguably Loveless’ most assured record – fierce, emotional, and damn good.
You Don’t Get Me Now, Terra Lightfoot (from the Sonic Unyon Records release Healing Power)
Canada’s Terra Lightfoot is back with another gem, further cementing her status as a rock and roller extraordinaire. Her latest is a bit slicker than her earlier work, but no less potent. True to form, tracks like “Come Back Around” and “You Don’t Get Me Now” marry great pop hooks with a healthy dose of electric guitar and attitude.
Love, both good and bad, are a dominant theme on Healing Power. In the former category are songs like “Need You Tonight” and “Out of Time”. “Need You Tonight” has echoes of Cheap Trick, never a bad thing, as Lightfoot sings “can’t get enough of you, you’re my kind of man and I need you tonight”. Later, on the ballad-ish but rhythmic “Out of Time” she counsels a lover, “Show me your worst mistake, I know it weighs on you but I don’t see it that way”.
In the latter category is album opener “Anyone But Me”, “Fired My Man”, and “You Don’t Get Me Now”. Lightfoot’s rumbling and rhythmic guitar kicks off “Anyone But Me” before the song explodes into a wash of power chords as she proclaims, “you wanted anybody, anyone but me.” The ballad “Fired My Man” finds Lightfoot reflecting on a relationship gone sour. “How did I let things get so out of hand,” she asks before adding “I turned in my key and fired my man”.
“You Don’t Get Me Now” is among the album’s stand-outs. It bristles with a heavy T Rex vibe, Lightfoot’s guitar leading the way as she declares “I’m doing better without you.”
Healing Power is a glorious blast of rock and roll. Exactly what we’ve come to expect from Lightfoot.
The Returner, Allison Russell (from the Fantasy Records release The Returner)
The Returner expands Allison Russell’s musical palette beyond the rootsy sound of 2021’s the Outsider. And the results are glorious.
Opener “Springtime” sets the tone with rootsy percussion enriched by strings and wondrous group harmonies. Russell acknowledges the season as one of rebirth, singing “those winters of my discontent so long farewell adieu adieu…”. The gospel-tinged title track covers similar ground. “Goodbye, so long, farewell all I’ve been,” she proclaims.
Some of The Returner’s most striking moments come when Russell brings in R&B, soul, and even disco elements. “Stay Right Here” is captivating with its string-laden disco beat while “Shadowlands” shimmers with an intoxicating 1980’s R&B vibe. Russell turns her attention to the civil rights movement on the jazzy and rhythmic “Demons”, declaring “Oh turn around, look ‘em in the face, they don’t like how sunlight tastes”.
The closing “Requiem” – which features backing vocals from Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier, among others – is as enchanting as it is enlightened. After acknowledging the state of the world (“Oh I know your way is hard to see today, bullets they fly faster than mother’s lullabies”), she offers words of encouragement to her child:
But go on go on my child,
Hope is a prairie fire
Set your embers on the summer wind
The Returner firmly establishes Allison Russell as an artist both adventurous and resolute – and one of her generation’s leading artistic lights.
In The Throes, Buddy and Julie Miller (from the New West Records release In The Throes)
It’s always a good year when we get new music from Buddy and Julie Miller. The husband and wife duo create music of exceptional emotion and authenticity. Simply put, they are among the elites when it comes to heartfelt balladry. Proof to the point is “Tattooed Tear”, a poignant song that describes getting the aforementioned tattoo to reflect the permanence of heartbreak – “You can get ‘em tattooed on for cheap, then you won’t ever have to weep”. Buddy further explains:
No one is responsible but me
I’ve been told about love’s treachery
But I haven’t learned yet
I still jump without a net
So go your way my dear
Never worry, never fear
It’s nothing but a tattooed tear
Even more profoundly moving is “The Last Bridge You Will Cross”, their tribute to the late politician and civil rights activist John Lewis. A simple arrangement of acoustic guitar, piano, and cello makes their words all the more poignant.
Trials and heartaches
Have traced a map across your soul
Good trouble, Bloody Sunday
Cross this bridge and be made whole
Well done good and faithful servant
Rest now from your righteous cause
You are free now, come to me now
On the last bridge you will cross
The Buddy sung ballad “Don’t Make Her Cry” has a back story as captivating as the song itself. It was started by Bob Dylan and Regina McCrary, based on a comment that McCrary’s father said to Dylan when his daughter joined Dylan’s band. Julie Miller finished the song and, along with Buddy, brought it to life.
Ballads aside, the duo can get downright gritty and raw, as they do on “The Painkillers Ain’t Workin’” and the title track. Their shared vocals, accompanied by Buddy’s wonderfully coarse guitar-playing, give the songs a sense of urgency.
In The Throes is a welcome reminder of the Miller’s talents, individually and collaboratively. Here’s hoping that there is more great music from them on the horizon.
Walk With Me, Diane and the Gentle Men (from the Velvet Elk Records release The Bad and the Beautiful)
One listen to Diane Gentile’s new album and you’ll immediately recognize that she’s a child of New York City – her latest album is infused with the city’s grit and energy. Notable among these are “Lace Up Your Sneakers” and “Dance ‘til Dawn”, rockers with a decided Studio 54 disco vibe. Piano ballad “Kiss the Sky” moves the scene downtown, the kind of song you want to hear as you wander through the East Village late at night. “Be There”, with its combination of jazz club and bluesy roadhouse, conjures up the image of whiling away the hours in a subterranean Greenwich Village venue.
The album’s centerpiece is “Walk With Me”, Gentile’s duet with Alejandro Escovedo. The upbeat rocker celebrates the value of companionship. Escovedo sings “All those tattoos on your skin, hiding scars deep within” before the two join together:
Won’t you walk with me
We can have a laugh or cry
They’re only problems
Won’t you walk with me
The Bad and the Beautiful is, well, exactly that – an album with the vitality of the city in which it represents.
After All This Time, Heather Lynne Horton (from the Pauper Sky Records release Get Me to a Nunnery)
Heather Horton has said that she drew inspiration from the late Sinead O’Connor for Get Me to a Nunnery, Horton’s first album in five years. One can hear that influence across the album but it is strongest on the somber and restrained “Call a Spade a Spade”. The song, one of quiet defiance, finds Horton proclaiming “for I believe that today is the day I am unafraid”. It also sets a tone for the entire album, as Horton deftly – and sometimes confrontationally – explores contemporary society.
She gets right to the point with the opening line of album centerpiece “Ten Times”, declaring “it’s ten times as hard for a woman”. Album opener “After All This Time” describes a life lived in someone else’s shadow while “I Don’t Like Your Children” is an insistent and scathing commentary of poorly raised children. “Wasted generation, who ever taught you things like that,” she sings.
“You Said So” is a particularly moving chronicle of a relationship from the moment the words “I love you” are uttered to when the words “it’s over” bring things to a crashing conclusion.
You said it first
I fell last
When you said so
But now I go
Through emptiness
When you said so…
You said so
The closing nearly 8 minute instrumental opus “Lin’s Never Ending Song” (a tribute to famed Chicago DJ Lin Brehmer) is a brilliant demonstration of her artistry, both as a composer and a violinist. It’s a fitting conclusion to a compelling album.
Should’ve Known Better, Erin Viancourt (from the Late August Records release Won’t Die This Way)
Without fail, there’s some “new to me” artist who jumps onto my radar via an email that lands in my inbox. This year it’s Cleveland, Ohio’s Erin Viancourt.
Won’t Die This Way is country in its classic form, with plenty of twang and a touch of attitude. There are songs about finding love (“Some Things Never Get Old” “Old Time Melody”) and losing it (“Who Taught You How to Love” and “Should’ve Known Better”, “Beautiful Night for Goodbye”), not to mention a few about spending time in bars (“Cheap Paradise” and “Straight Down the Barrel”). The constant – in both song and performance – is Viancort’s spirit and charm.
Flat Tire, Jeff Plankenhorn (from the Blue Corn Music release Alone at Sea)
Jeff Plankenhorn may originally be from Ohio but his music is steeped in the dusty blend of roots rock and soul of his time spent in Austin, Texas. It’s a sound that shines brightly on Alone at Sea, his latest album.
Plankenhorn kicks things off with the bluesy and brooding “Bird Out on 9th” before bringing in the upbeat R&B – and his slide guitar – on “Maybe It’s Not Too Late”. “Flat Tire” is a groovy and fun tale of a truck with more problems than the aforementioned flat tire. He gets funky on “Juggling Sand”, his ode to coping with the twists and turns that can come one’s way.
Plankenhorn brings these stories to life with the combination of a warm, soulful voice and his sublime, never showy, guitar prowess. It all comes together to make Alone at Sea a fun and enjoyable listen.
Wide River to Cross, Blind Boys of Alabama (from the Single Lock Records release Echoes of the South)
There are legends and then there are the Blind Boys of Alabama. For more than 80 years and upwards of 60 albums, they’ve preached, harmonized, and entertained. Not surprisingly, their latest album is steeped in their gospel tradition, from the rave-up “Send It On Down” to the country-tinged “Work Until My Days Are Done” to the soulful “Jesus You’ve Been Good to Me”.
The revelations, however, are their takes on Buddy and Julie Miller’s “Wide River to Cross” and Steve Wonder’s “Heaven Help Us All”. Both songs fit well alongside the album’s more traditional selections and are infused with a musical grittiness reflective of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where the album was recorded.
I Feel Good, Bad, Fine, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (from the Omnivore Records release Radio Daze & Glamping)
Longtime readers know that I’m a sucker for a great pop song. Well, Roger Joseph Manning Jr.’s got ‘em by the barrel. Manning has a storied background – co-founder of the late, great Jellyfish; long-time member of Beck’s band; and go-to studio musician for artists ranging from Johnny Cash to Morrissey to Blink-182. Left to his own devices, however, he unleashes great pop songs that call to mind everyone from Cheap Trick’s power pop glory to Brian Wilson’s orchestral masterpieces.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.