The old-school sounds of “I Love Leavers” are at odds with the words. Never mind the good ol’ boys, all singer Logan Simmons wants is a bad lad. “I need a man like Johnny Cash,” she sings.
And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the EP starts with the line “I quit church and never went back.” Not the usual cookie-cutter picture-postcard stuff.
Not many country songs contain the thought that “I paid my dues in the back pew and fell from grace.”
Singer Logan Simmons has a genuinely brilliant voice. Down and dirty when she wants, and jaunty as you like on the acoustics of the title track – which stands out because it’s the type of thing you expect this to be. The type of thing that makes a bloke from the UK Midlands fall in love with “the South.”
The EP is produced by John Osborne – a man who knows a thing or two about duos playing off-kilter country – and “Can’t Please ‘Em All” is an anthem for those who go their own way. And you feel that The Band Loula will do that to their last breath.
They head down a darker blues avenue on “Karma’s A Bitch,” and being realistic, I don’t fancy Karma’s chances in a fist fight.
And when it all ends with an old-school hoedown, it feels out of place – until you actually listen to the words of “Who Gets To Heaven.” Let’s just say their buddy Chuck sounds like a lot of fun.
So is this EP. Tongues are never far from cheeks, but the music is deadly serious.
“Sweet Southern Summer” is all kinds of cool.
Rating: 8.5/10
