Pour a little out for Lydia Loveless…no, wait, make it a double. Loveless may not be much of a romantic, but Indestructible Machine does reveal one true love for Lydia: that handsome bottle of brown whiskey.
With her gritty sound and witty lyrics, Lydia draws country-cynics in past the discomforting sound of banjo strumming, instead packing a southern-style sucker punch with her confident voice and catchy songs. Lydia sounds like Loretta Lynn would if she was the one coming home drinking with loving on her mind.
Modern country music is short on badass ladies, but this contemporary coal miner’s daughter infuses her banjo-strumming songs with a heavy helping of sass and drunken, disorderly behavior. “More Like Them” reveals Lydia’s love for drinking alone, singing and sipping introspective, while “Do Right” finds Loveless bad to the bone, hollering against the golden rule. In “Can’t Change Me,” Lydia’s anthem-ready single, Loveless waxes on the debaucherous lifestyle of drunk and confused 20-somethings, re-affirming our flaws and messed-up minds. She sings the incredible two-liner: “Cause I swear that every hangover’s gonna be my last/It looks like only whiskey’s gonna kick my ass and make me still come back.” “Crazy” is a morning-after ballad to accompany the confident screech of “Can’t Change Me,” full of regret and potentially lost love – a perfect compliment.
More than a love letter to the bottle or a typical country record, Indestructible Machine is one of those rare records that seems totally personal, but also seems to be about you. Relatable for its moments of strength as much as its sad and lonely songs, Indestructible Machine is quite possibly the only must-have country record of the year.
