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Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins music review
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Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
Team Love Records
Personally, I blame Shania Twain. She and her “New Country” brethren have given country music a bad name. Thanks to their cookie-cutter music and their perfect skin, millions of music fans have taken to saying they love “pretty much everything . . . except country.”
Track listing:
01 Run Devil Run
02 The Big Guns
03 Rise Up With Fists!!
04 Happy
05 The Charging Sky
06 Melt Your Heart
07 You Are What You Love
08 Rabbit Fur Coat
Thankfully, for every hundred Shania Twains or Toby Keiths in the world, there is one Lorreta Lynn or Johnny Cash. And so, with a little re-branding (say a few well-chosen duets or some Jack White production), even the indie kids have been convinced of its merits, going as far as to embrace its slightly watered-down cousin, alt.country, as their own.
The latest convert is Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, whose first solo effort, Rabbit Fur Coat, sees her team up with bluegrass vocalists the Watson Twins for an album that sounds pretty much like you’d think it would – traditional country mixed with indie rock.
They are all there, the tropes of the country song – the twang, the bluegrass harmonies, the politics, depression and transcendent hope, God, the casual wisdom of lines like “You are what you love and not what loves you back”, and the first-person storytelling of the title track – but they’re tempered and made a bit easier for a wider audience to digest. And while that keeps Jenny Lewis from reaching the heights achieved by some of country’s greatest, it does still make for very good songs.
Not surprising, it’s where this marriage of styles works best that you find the best songs on Rabbit Fur Coat. “The Big Guns”, with its handclaps, sing-along chorus and slide guitar, is the standout track, but almost every tune has its own particular charm. “Happy” takes what would be a soft and simple country tune and adds an indie twist with a distant distorted guitar. “Run Devil Run”, the occapella opener, is filled with gorgeous harmonies – putting the Watson Twins’ talents to their best use. Even the cover of the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle Me With Care”, while unnecessary, is just plain fun. It’s hard to imagine someone who wouldn’t be able to find something to love about this album.
Call it country music for people who hate country.
