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Community Media Center
2011-10-31
Nick's Picks: EVERY SINGLE ONE FCC ALERT: "01, 02, 03, 07, 08, 09" Note that there is a "clean" version on a separate cd, enclosed. Review by Steven "Nick" Nickelson of Lydia Loveless Indestructible Machine : A dose of country, an equal part punk, and a lot of trailer park - oh, and a whole bunch of singing/songwriting talent. This is absolutely the hardest of the hard-charging releases I have heard since I began reviewing. I am simply floored! This twenty-one year-old singer/songwriter from the Midwest has created a genre all her own! We had Black Jake and the Carnies perverting Bluegrass into Crabgrass with their punk attitudes and instrumentation. The same can be said here for the daughter of a country bar owner with her punked-up music and attitudes. The thing is - just like Black Jake and company, this girl has the pipes and the talent to make the genre (Country Punk) her very own. What is amazing to me is the depth of feeling and life experiences coming from such a young girl. I have read some of the reviews comparing her to Loretta Lynn, but I have to strongly disagree. Her talent and old-soul songs are more akin to a Janis Joplin/Merle Haggard mashup. There are no punches pulled on this record - Lydia blasts through each track with enchanting, powerful vocals, and a versatile backing band that hits hard as hell one minute, and soothes just as softly the next. She has no fear when it comes to expressing her feelings in her generation's vernacular - even though the use of the expletives throughout this recording would shock an older generation, they seem to come so easily in her music as to make the usage an integral part of her generation's music scene. What I don't understand is why such a gifted artist would insist on using profanity for the sake of artistic poesy. Like Lenny Bruce, I think Ms. Loveless wants to be noted for her fearlessness; and unlike Lenny Bruce, she is easy on the eyes and completely focused on delivering her message in a powerful voice singing with full-speed-ahead, damn the torpedoes attitude. I think the Absolute Punk reviewer said it best, ",,,she stands to be the greatest thing for the genre since Uncle Tupelo . . . Make no mistake, Indestructible Machine is the sound of promise, the sound of hope and ultimately the sound of something truly special unfolding." I could just go on and on, but you need to hear it for yourself. And that's my two nickels' worth............................Nick ARTIST BIO: Blessed with a commanding, blast-it-to-the-back-of-theroom voice, the 21-year-old Lydia Loveless was raised on a family farm in Coshocton, Ohio—a small weird town with nothing to do but make music. With a dad who owned a country music bar, Loveless often woke up with a house full of touring musicians scattered on couches and floors. When she got older, in the time-honored traditions of teenage rebellion, she turned her back on these roots, moved to the city (Columbus, OH) and immersed herself in the punk scene, soaking up the musical and attitudinal influences of everyone from Charles Bukowski to Richard Hell to Hank III. The Musicians: ・ Lydia Lovelesws – songwriting, vocals, rhythm guitar ・ Todd May – lead guitar, backing vocals ・ Ben Lamb – bass ・ Parker Chandler – drums ・ Rob Woodruff – banjo ・ Adrian Jusdanis – violin ・ Barry Hensley – pedal steel The Songs: 1. Bad Way To Go 2. Can't Change Me 3. More Like Them 4. How Many Women 5. Jesus Was a Wino 6. Steve Earle 7. Learn To Say No 8. Do Right 9. Crazy
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The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.