Real, Joe

Real

Lydia Loveless

August 19, 2016

If there's one thing that Lydia Loveless has different with her music, compared to the rest of my iPod, it’s the voice. Southern twang is the name of the game when it comes to the vocals. Naturally, this makes the music sound like part of the "country" genre.

Really, though, that's about all it has in common with country, as far as I can hear. Otherwise, the music is pure female-driven rock 'n' roll. And Real is all the better for it.

Yes, this is an extremely subjective way of thinking about it, because, yes, I am irritated by "country" in general. I usually think about that YouTube video that had a bunch of country songs layered on top of one another, and it all sounded the same. (I also think about how most country fans are also voting for trump.) I do not like this type of music.

Lydia Loveless is just straight rock and pop here, though. Nothing too complicated. 4/4 drum beats, rhythm guitar. There's the occasional flourish, such as the funky bass on "Heaven," but mostly we barrel straight ahead. I could maybe see Katy Perry singing some of these songs.

Look, this isn’t anything that’s rocking my world. GREAT music chokes me up, makes me lightheaded. GOOD music, I dunno, maybe I could see putting it on at a barbecue or something, nothing too crazy. This is good music.

Overall, I appreciate what Loveless is doing, and I’m glad I broadened my music tastes a bit and made room for this little nugget of comfort.

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5

BEST SONG: "European"