Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins

Jenny Lewis & he Watson twins

This was a curiosity I had to try at the local listening station and then pickd up. It is alt-country pop done extra alt and laden with all the irony that one would expect from someone trying to channel both Bob Dylan and Barbara Mandrell.

Sometimes it works musically, as is the case with The Changing Sky; a kind of a feminine take on what could have been a Traveling Wilbury's b-side (and let's face it, Jenny Lewis is a lot easier
on the eyes than anyone in that outfit...have you ever seen Jeff Lynne). Oddly enough, she covers a Traveling Wilbury;s tune (Handle With Care) and seems to do the reverse...she screws it up royally.

Big Guns too is musically a joy, but the lyrics are (as so often happens with too much worldly angst and suburban irony) a little leaden. You Are What You Love is terribly catchy. A kind of twisted shuffle, It fails really badly with Rise Up With Fists, It Wasn't Me and Happy, which either suffer from morose arrangements, or just kind of sluggish, phoned in performances.

The Watson Twins are a surprise joy, with their harmony vocals working sublimely.