Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Punky Tonk Purl
Just noticed that the place where this was first published has once again re-launched, once again sans most of its archives, at least those from 2011. Lydia Loveless has a new album out; more on that later, but here's some backstory (if Local Pop Radio's podcasts are still up---can also try it via patradio---they're a great trove of OH punk and other indie through the aeons):
In a nutshell, from 2010 preview & Nashville Scene ballot comments)
Veteran Columbus OH teen Lydia Loveless sometimes includes the
Replacements' intensely frustrated "Answering Machine" and Def
Leppard's dynamically mesmerized "Hysteria" with her punky tonk combo
deliveries, unstoppably tumbling up, down and onto life's thrilling,
killing, chilling and flat moments. Loretta Lynn's points of departure
are extended and twisted through Loveless' compactly epic,
self-written debut, The Only Man, as desperately wired sexual power
struggles zap the void in passing: "Girls suck/They suck and suck and
never get enough," wails one contender, but it's time to ricochet off
another incisive epitaph.
¶ 2/19/2014
LYDIA LOVELESS BRINGS THE PUNKY TONK TRUTH
By Don Allred for 4-18/19-2011
The living legend of Lydia Loveless began with the 2004 birth of her punk-inflected family new wave band, Carson Drew. Which is also the name of intrepid tween-lit girl detective Nancy Drew's invaluable lawyer-father. So, the band's name could be considered a salute to the then-14-year-old Loveless and her sisters' own drumming dad, Parker Chandler. But, as their blog proclaimed, they were all "Carson Drew, Attorneys At Large"---ready to rock the halls of justice. Soon after the 2006 release of Under The Table, Carson Drew disbanded, and the country-bred Loveless reached for her heretofore-spurned roots. She wrote her first songs, busting the male malefactors of Columbus Babylon.
A still-available "Local Pop Radio Hour" podcast finds Loveless's rhythm guitar and Chandler's drums nailing a whirlwind of unanswered questions to a no-frills, every-night waltz. "Miller High Life" cross-examines the narrator, her man, her God, and even the "champagne of beers," with a relentlessly spare clarity. This makes LL's more typically cascading up-tempo testimonials seem like blessedly tempestuous vacation fare. Her characters were born to struggle, and they thrive on the noise-meets-poise of her 2010 solo debut, The Only Man. Its independent producers excluded Chandler's drums, among several other Nashville-type biz-decisions, but they were true venture capitalists, committed to finding new focus for Loveless's jolting jukebox visions. Columbus-based Peloton Records' Steve McGann released the results, then teamed Loveless and Chandler with equally seasoned lead guitarist Todd May and bassist Ben Lamb. McGann's direction led them to Bloodshot, Chicago's sonic stockyard of volatile Americana.
Loveless, now 20, is producing her first Bloodshot album, Indestructible Machine----an appropriate title, judging by advance tracks. In writing them, she said, "I generally come up with a line that won't let me be. If a song wants to be written, it will get written." The song's gestation can take months, as Loveless tosses a bundle o' joy and other things to her band and audience, checking their responses. Then again, Loveless wrote several songs the night before her new album's sessions began. "It was nerve-wracking but fun," she reported. Another creation suddenly materialized at a Rock Potluck jam. " I wanted to be good that day, and my fear made a song come out of me. I'm pretty proud of it."
This show will feature "mostly new songs," according to her latest update; also a few covers, probably including Goldfinger's "Without Me" and CCR's "Someday Never Comes." Steve McGann also reminded us, "She almost always does 'Miller High Life' live."
Lydia Loveless will be performing with supporting acts JKutchma and Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons at the Rumba Cafe on Thursday, April 21.The doors open at 9 p.m. $6 all audiences. For more information, please visit www.pelotonrecords.com or www.columbusrumbacafe.com.
In a nutshell, from 2010 preview & Nashville Scene ballot comments)
Veteran Columbus OH teen Lydia Loveless sometimes includes the
Replacements' intensely frustrated "Answering Machine" and Def
Leppard's dynamically mesmerized "Hysteria" with her punky tonk combo
deliveries, unstoppably tumbling up, down and onto life's thrilling,
killing, chilling and flat moments. Loretta Lynn's points of departure
are extended and twisted through Loveless' compactly epic,
self-written debut, The Only Man, as desperately wired sexual power
struggles zap the void in passing: "Girls suck/They suck and suck and
never get enough," wails one contender, but it's time to ricochet off
another incisive epitaph.
