Lacy Younger “Still Wild” (Big Deal Records 2007)

Lacy Younger is marketing herself as a country rocking minx. A hard living , whiskey soaked soul wrapped in the faded jeans and floaty tops and this album ticks all the appropriate boxes. The hard rocking ‘But I Miss You’ with its driving guitar and staccato piano stabs and the end of the night ballad of regret ‘I Was Wrong’ with its slow dance of tears and heartache. The whole CD follows this structure; perfectly observed mainstream AM radio country rock ( spelt rawk) – a ballad ( Livin’ On Memories)(Didn’t I), a rocker ( Broken Heart, Broken Bones)(Dead Wrong) etc.

The production is slick, as you would expect from a grammy winning producer of Linda Ronstadt and Kim Carnes and nothing is out of place but that leaves little room for real emotion or spontaneity. I am sure that Lacy believes this stuff she has written about but maybe the edge has been slightly smoothed off these tales of heartbreak and unforgiveness. However if you ignore the awful 12 bar blues chug (Let Me In ) there is a spunkiness that cannot be ignored and the vocals grow with repeated listens, as do the arrangements.

The cd is called ‘Still Wild’ and I should think she bloody well is after being told to run about in skimpy tops that emphasise the cleavage for the liner notes shots and promotional material. The woman who wrote most of the tracks on this cd obviously has the talent and the skill not have to play these marketing games. It is however her second shot at this debut (the first stalling in 1999) and she perhaps feels she must follow every path to try and make this a success and if they are aiming at a passing mainstream hit they might just do it with ‘Something That You Do’; for more long term credibility maybe change the image and let the songs do the talking.

Date review added:  Thursday, April 12, 2007
Reviewer:  keith hargreaves
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  artists website