Lydia Loveless sings “Clumps,” her album’s quietist tune, alone with her acoustic guitar, but when she wails out the opening line, “People tell me I could be addicted to romance,” she sums up the sentiment that lies at the core of Real. The band growls and roars, while her powerful vocals descend into the maelstrom of crushed dreams and unrequited love. Her witty wordplay and ironic humor offer a bit of relief from heartache and confusion that colors the record, but it’s those shattered emotions that are the most impressive.
“Longer” is a country rocker with a metallic edge that describes a woman unwilling to let go of a relationship that’s turned sour. On “Bilbao,” she displays her passion to an indifferent guy, with the band mimicking the painful thumping of her broken heart, while “Midwestern Guys” is a short list of dead-end relationships delivered with a dirge-like rock beat.
—j. poet
