Album review: Lydia Loveless’ brazen ‘Somewhere Else’

There’s having no shame, and then there’s Lydia Loveless.

Over the course of three albums, the 23-year-old Ohioan has given the age of over-sharing one of its most brazen country outlaws. The drama chronicled on “Somewhere Else� isn’t just rowdy, it’s borderline illicit. Loveless sings of wanting to “love you like a father loves a son,� gets defensive that anyone would question her decision to phone a married ex in the middle of the night (hey, “the phone was right there�) and when it comes to lust, she doesn’t have time for mere innuendo.

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Hard-living and desperation are typically the topics when country and punk collide, and Loveless’ five-piece backing band, which used to include her father until she fired him, supports the storyteller/guitarist with minimum fuss and devil-may-care adjustments. She has all the grace of Loretta Lynn on “Verlaine Shot Rimbaud,� until your realize she wants a lover so crazy there’s threats of gunfire.

“Wine Lips� is a train wreck of embarrassment, but the guitars seem to smile with her every digression. Barroom riffs and steel guitar textures tussle amid Loveless’ modest snarl on “To Love Somebody,� and even when she delivers a tearjerker, she is out for blood. Going home again is just an excuse to “find a rich man’s house and burn it down.� What, your family reunions lack class warfare?

Lydia Loveless

“Somewhere Else�

Bloodshot Records

Three and a half stars (Out of four)

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