Lydia Loveless Goes “Boy Crazy” On New EP
I’ve had some open and honest reservations about Bloodshot Records’ cowpunk princess Lydia Loveless over her short career, it’s true, but while always appreciating her spunk and energy and style, and her ability to land comedic punches in her verses like few others. Lydia is a fun artist, that can’t be denied. It’s just that some of the accolades seemed to come to Lydia a little bit premature, and some of the rock & roll attitude felt outmoded compared to the genuineness that many artists in the recent roots revolution exhibit, both through their music and on stage.
Lydia’s 2011 Indestructible Machine seemed to take a little too much pleasure in her self-destructive tendencies, and though her singing and sonic style showed much promise, it still felt like it was searching for its proper place. No doubt there was more good than bad, but there were just a few hangups keeping me from entering full fledged fandom.
Ahead of a new full-length album promised from Lydia in 2014 is a quick little EP called Boy Crazy. Though I have no specific intel telling me so, in my mind I envision Lydia getting ready to finish her new album, having a few too many songs, and seeing how these five selections fit so well together, deciding to release them this way. Whether that’s true or not, the songs of Boy Crazy all do work well together to the point where they equal a sum greater than their parts and may be diminished if they were orphaned from each other. This is important, because it answers the question every artist thinking about the EP route must answer, which is “Why release an EP if an LP will be better?”
Boy Crazy is a straight ahead power pop album with punkish and country undertones that draws you right in with it’s juicy hooks and melodies, witty lyrics, fun themes, and general good-timedness. Any wonkiness from Lydia trying to find her sound has slipped away for tight grooves and cunning, infectious arrangements that if anything are almost too accessible, making you wonder if it’s okay to get so deep into this music, or if it should be considered a guilty pleasure.
Both the “Boy” and “Crazy” of the title are important here, because the five songs of this EP are all love songs of one version or another, but told through Lydia’s signature skewed, unsettled, and sometimes substance-altered vision of reality. You get the picture that Lydia’s version of love is just as much swinging fists and shattered windows as it is serenades, but she’s also not afraid to show her sweet and vulnerable sides. Boy Crazy comes across as powerfully sincere in places, especially in the concluding track, “The Water,” while the ultra-infectious “Lover’s Spat” is a crazy-eyed donnybrook of love gone mad with a punk soundtrack. “All I Know” and “All The Time” are significantly more sensible, but just as engaging, and “Boy Crazy” is anthemic in how it rises and draws you in.
This Boy Crazy EP is what it is—a quick little album with some cool, charming songs with a loose theme holding them all together. Some trepidation remains for Lydia on my part, but maybe most importantly with this EP is it really wets your appetite for what Lydia might have coming with her new full-length project.
Fun little album.
1 ¾ of 2 guns up.
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November 14, 2013 @ 9:48 am
I like what I’ve heard from it so far!
November 14, 2013 @ 11:34 am
I love Lydia Loveless.
I’d say she’s like the Neko Case of the moment, she gives me so much hope for music of different genres – if Neko Case weren’t also having a moment.
November 14, 2013 @ 2:28 pm
every artist thinking about the EP route must answer, which is “Why release an EP if an LP will be better?”
I wish more artists would release 3-6 song EPs between [or instead] of full albums. I was listening to an indie rock record this morning with had, I think, 16 cuts. I lost interest because it was just too many songs for them all to be excellent.
In this single-dominated digital world, we’re back to the days of 45s. We’d get better quality (hopefully) and more frequent releases at an affordable price point.
November 14, 2013 @ 2:41 pm
I agree 16 songs is too much, and in the digital age, all formatting of albums is becoming somewhat arbitrary. But EP’s tend to get forgotten in an artist’s discography, and judged as half efforts by history, regardless if it is fair or not. You go to most sites that catalog music in one way or another, and what is featured is their full length projects. EP’s and live albums many times are listed separately. I always encourage artists to avoid EP’s unless there is a specific reason less songs equals more. In the case of this album, I think it does.
November 14, 2013 @ 7:55 pm
It’s a good point. I just think it’s unfortunate. Better, then, that we get a shorter record of 8-12 songs — but make those songs your best ones.
Like a Rose by Ashley Monroe, for instance, is only 9 tracks. And it’s unformly strong. Even Kellie Pickler’s new record is only 12 tracks.
Whereas Brad Paisley’s newest is 17 tracks (not counting bonus songs on the deluxe). Even if you cut the intro and closing tracks, which are just sound effects, you end up with 15 songs. He could easily have cut a few and made a pretty good album into a great one.
But that’s all off-topic. Your review intrigues me, and I want to check out LL’s music.
November 14, 2013 @ 9:10 pm
I love 9 song albums that pack a punch. They may be my favorite albums. I do think many albums are going on too long, but this is also the new reality of the 18 month release cycle, as opposed to the 12 month release cycle that used to be the norm.
November 14, 2013 @ 9:19 pm
The biggest selling album of all time Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ had only 9 songs and had a running time of 42 minutes. Sometimes less is more.
November 15, 2013 @ 7:53 am
I agree in principle, but there have been many longer albums, or double albums that were fantastic all the way through. Wilco’s “Being There” was great, start to finish. Some will disagree, but I think that “Use Your Illusion I and II” were excellent, and you would have lost a lot of great songs by trying to cut both albums down to 8 – 12 tracks. It obviously comes down to the quality of the material, and the artist or band. When you have a band full of songwriters, like The Drive By Truckers, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Band, The Grateful Dead, Uncle Tupelo, etc., I think its easier to release a long album, or double album, full of great songs.
November 15, 2013 @ 7:59 am
No doubt there are classic exceptions to the rule. (Though UYI would have been better served with fewer tracks, IMO.)
I already mentioned Paisley, who tends to make long records. And did Katy Perry’s last two albums need to be so long? How about Taylor Swift? Jason Aldean’s current record has 15 tracks.
My point being that modern mainstream music — pop and country both — might be better served by taking a harder look at the songs being recorded. Perhaps the quality level might improve across the board even among the crappier bands we like to laugh about around here. Surely even the greedy record companies know there’s filler on them.
November 18, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
What is the difference between an EP and a LP?
What does each abbreviation/acronym mean?
Thanks.
November 18, 2013 @ 8:10 pm
It refers back to the original vinyl era. In the beginning, most songs were just released as singles, or 45’s, and that’s where the term “single” comes. EP stands for “Extended Play” which would usually be 4 to 6 songs. LP stands for “Long Play” which was a full album.
The EP has always kind of been the bastard child of the music format because it fits in an intermediate zone that few people pay attention to.
November 14, 2013 @ 7:13 pm
Thanx for the review. I like this broad alot. Really like “Indestructible Machine” but didn’t know she had another release coming out.
November 15, 2013 @ 4:09 am
I think she made an EP ’cause she think about vinyl format not cd and a LP doesn’t contains so much songs.
Anyway, the EP is really great.
December 3, 2013 @ 1:50 pm
Well, you are correct. Lydia does think more in terms of vinyl, as does her label.
Nevertheless, if anyone, including self-proclaimed music critics, would take the time to research the artists they ‘critique,’ they would have known that Lydia produced this EP after finishing her soon-to-be-released LP. As it is, we are subjected blathering twits writing ignorant psycho-analysis, and misinformed tripe as this, “Though I have no specific intel telling me so, in my mind I envision Lydia getting ready to finish her new album, having a few too many songs…”
December 3, 2013 @ 1:58 pm
“As it is, we are subjected blathering twits writing ignorant psycho-analysis, and misinformed tripe as this, “Though I have no specific intel telling me so, in my mind I envision Lydia getting ready to finish her new album, having a few too many songs”¦”
That was me admitting I was a blathering twit that did not have the specific information about where the songs came from, not being a blathering twit by pretending that I knew. So I would characterize this as being “uninformed” instead of “misinformed.” It was just my attempt to add some character to an album review, which generally speaking, are inherently boring by nature. In the end the music should be the focus, not my stupid words.
November 15, 2013 @ 10:39 am
I’ve seen Lydia’s Show twice when she opened for other acts and thought her music a slightly unusual but welcome twist to what’s out there these days. I like her sound (sweet & salty ). Thanks for the review!
November 15, 2013 @ 12:30 pm
Sweet and salty is a perfect description. 🙂
November 15, 2013 @ 8:05 pm
I just want to go on the record for saying that I’m a HUGE Lydia fan! I thoroughly love each of her albums album in their entirety. I disagree with the author of the article. The wonderfully chaotic mess that was Indestructible Machine was a knock out! If you haven’t listened to it you must! Not settling upon a single, clean cut sound that fits into a mold IS her sound and it works brilliantly well for her. Her voice is amazing and she is just so incredibly talented. I’m gushing, I know, but seriously, this girl is by far my favorite artist discovery to date! I know I will be a fan for years to come, and am highly anticipating her new album next year!! 🙂
November 16, 2013 @ 1:26 pm
Lydia Loveless is probably my favorite country artist around right now. This EP is short and sweet, but its also really great stuff, particularly the closing track, “The Water,” which Trig rightly praised. Given that I’m a fan of country with lots of electric guitar, I find Lydia’s stuff more appealing than that of traditional acoustic artists. I saw her last year in Toronto; it was a great show, and I got to chat with her afterwards. She’s a stand-up act all around.
One quibble with this review: why should her music be categorized as “power pop?” I mean, its drums, stand-up bass, and guitars, so why not a “country” tag? Perhaps the production is a bit too rich?
November 16, 2013 @ 8:24 pm
Really, probably any attempt to label genre to Lydia is foolhardy in some respect, but except for the upright bass and some steel guitar, I do think this is much more a rock album that has punk influences than a country one, and running a website called “Saving Country Music” I wanted to convey this in the review so people weren’t shocked when they heard it, or take this in mind when reading the review. Sure there’s some country here, but I don’t consider it a country album. But of course, that’s my opinion. I would argue if someone wanted to say it’s more country than anything else.
November 16, 2013 @ 8:33 pm
The music sounds more like 80s rock than traditional country. That’s probably the reason for the “power pop” label.
November 16, 2013 @ 7:23 pm
I like this and it sounds more rock than pop. I’d like it more if it were more country.
So a great full length country album gets 1 1/2 guns and a 5 song power pop album with punkish and country undertones gets 1 3/4 guns. Ok.
November 16, 2013 @ 8:10 pm
Many things go into how I rate an album. First, genre should never count against an album unless it is labeled one thing, but sounds like another, or the attempt is to use genre for marketing without being true to the genre’s sound. This is not what I’d say Lydia is doing here. Also I take into consideration the potential of the artist or the project. I think with this EP, Lydia dramatically improved from where she had been before, where Kellie Pickler (I’m assuming that’s the other album you’re referring to) I think could have done better.
And yes, as I elaborated on in the review and subsequently in comments, EP’s are always taken at a discount to some extent, and I think your comment proves why. But in the end I have to look at the songs regardless of breadth and judge it as an EP, not in comparison with a full length project from anybody. If Kellie had taken the five best songs off of “The Woman I Am” and put them on an EP, who knows, maybe it would have received two guns up. But I wouldn’t take the difference in grade to say that there less good songs on Kellie’s album than there is here.
November 16, 2013 @ 8:39 pm
What is “pop”? Is pop even a genre? Strictly defined, pop simply means popular music of a given point in time.
Until the 1920’s, pop was classical music.
From the 1920’s through the 1950’s, pop was jazz.
From the 1960’s through the 1990’s, pop was rock.
Since the beginning of the last decade, pop has been hip-hop/techno/dubstep.
When discussing pop as a genre, it is therefore important to label the era of pop being referred to. Today’s pop is very different from 80’s pop. The title track “Boy Crazy” sounds similar to 80’s pop, but not at all like today’s pop.
November 18, 2013 @ 7:42 pm
This chick is seriously hot and I like her music a lot.
This is a double dose of good news.
December 12, 2013 @ 9:29 am
Preview of new song – album Somewhere Else due Feb 18…
http://tinyurl.com/kvaq9rp