Lydia Loveless commands the stage from tune-up to the final bow, with a voice that carries to every ear, no matter how intoxicated the owner.
— The Noise
Blessed with a commanding, blast-it-to-the-back-of-the-room voice, the 21 year-old Lydia Loveless was raised on a family farm in Coshocton, Ohio – a small weird town with nothing to do but make music. With a dad who owned a country music bar, Loveless often woke up with a house full of touring musicians scattered on couches and floors. In the time-honored traditions of teenage rebellion, she turned her back on these roots, moved to Columbus and immersed herself in the punk scene, soaking up the musical and attitudinal influences of everyone from Bukowski to Richard Hell to Hank III.
Indestructible Machine, her Bloodshot debut, combines heady doses of punk rock energy and candor with the country classicism she was raised on and just can’t shake. From foggy mountain throwdowns where she sounds like a tuff Neko Case, to muscular power pop driven by choppy, tense guitar tonalities recalling Television’s Richard Lloyd to the take no shit spirit of Loretta Lynn and displaying country soul well beyond her years, Loveless true-to-life testimonials hit and hit hard. Be it whiskey, men, god or alienation, Lydia takes them all on; they may kick, but she kicks back and, even though she stands 5′ tall, when the barstools start flying, we want her on our side.