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Going on sale: December 5, 2008

New England Music News

Do what they mean

As the songwriting goes, there’s not much revolutionary here. Most of it is a natural progression from bluesy ZZ Top, boozy Iggy Pop, and the time when David Lee Roth covered Brian Wilson. Maybe you’ll hear some MC5, too, and a Stray Cat strut. But the little things are attended to well, and there should be enough to keep music nerds interested.

In “I Got My Grip on You,” listen for the plosive at the end of the chorus’s “grip” that ought to be notice of a likely passing shower for future front rows, or for the great drum roll from Michael Anderson introducing the second verse of “Why You Such a Pill.” In “Motherless Child,” it’s easy to appreciate the transition from delicate dirge to guitar distortion wash to finish like a drunkenly slurred Elvis Costello singing Irish drinking songs.

There’s simply something about “How to Undress in Front of Your Husband” — “She’s the one that I want/She’s the one that I love/She’s the one, but she’s runnin’ with you” — that recalls James Dean movies and cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve of your white T-shirt without seeming dated.

As we ease into our second half-century of rock and roll, let’s hope there’s always a place for that.

On the Web
Loverless: http://www.loverless.com/

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