Lydia Loveless

When I hear the name Lydia Loveless I think of Lydia Lunch, but the two couldn't be more different. The former is a hot new singer/songwriter who plays rock and roll flavored country, or country flavored rock depending on your point of view. In the terminology of today, this is alt-country, but unlike others in the genre, like Neko Case or Jenny Lewis, Loveless emphasizes the country more than the alt.

I've been listening to her latest album, Somewhere Else, which is pleasant if unspectacular.

What's most distinctive about her is her voice. She's from Columbus, Ohio, not exactly the land of cotton, but she has a nasal twang that would not be out of place in a honky tonk with a Confederate flag tacked to the wall. And though her sound is pretty straight forward rock, with some steel guitars for atmosphere, the voice makes every sound chicken-fried.

As a songwriter, Loveless is not particularly distinctive. Most of the songs are generic, with humdrum titles like "Really Wanna See You," "To Love Somebody," and "Hurts So Bad." The one song that pops out at me is "Verlaine Shot Rimbaud," which may seem like a lit major's pretension, but contrasted with the other songs it is a plaintive cry in the dark--"Verlaine shot Rimbaud, because he loved him so...that's the way I want to go." Loveless includes a poem by Verlaine on the inside of the CD booklet. Since she's only 23 she can be forgiven for admiring these two enfant terribles.

The only cover version is Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know," which was a hit for Tracy Ullman years ago. It's a sparkly British pop tune, but Loveless, with her dynamic voice, gives it new shading.

Somewhere Else is a good album, and I'm interested to see how Loveless grows as a songwriter.