No Surprises on Loveless Compilation

What can be said about Lydia Loveless’ Boy Crazy and Single(s) that hasn’t been said before? No, this writer is not starved for words, and frankly resents the presumptuous notion! The fact is if you are a fan of Loveless, you have literally heard all of this before.

In the midst of a swell of young artists releasing retrospective collections, Boy Crazy and Single(s) stands alone, though not for an entirely good reason. Angel Olsen (shameless plug) used the format to deepen our understanding of her early development with unused outtakes and rarities on Phases; Whitney, innocently but somewhat haughtily, released an album of demos for their first and only album, Light Upon the Lake. The former delved on revelatory while the latter registered as unnecessary, if rewarding for committed fans.

What separates both from Boy Crazy and Single(s) is that despite their varying levels of imagination they still offered something new. Loveless’ latest is, as the title indicates, a combination of her 2013 EP Boy Crazy and a few singles and covers from the intervening years, previously released in various formats but all digitally available. Boy Crazy and Single(s) puts them together in a physical package (it is the first time some of this material is available on CD and vinyl) but in so doing drains itself of any actual vision and is easy to perceive as a play by the suits. “It’s good to have the body of work in one place,” Bloodshot Records co-owner Rob Miller is quoted as saying in Paste Magazine. “Hopefully this achieves that.”

None of this is intended to disparage Loveless and the music collected here, which is uniformly wonderful. The band deals in a propulsive blend of punk and country that rises head and shoulders above most other similar exercises in genre fusion. Guitars may never have sounded as trashy in music as effulgent, with tracks like “All I Know” and “Boy Crazy” as capable of transporting you to an empty beach road at dawn as a grimy urban dive at night. Later, a rootsy, choppy cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” contrasts splendidly with the tightness of the original.

Loveless’ voice and words just as ably bridge the genre gap, with her natural drawl interacting engagingly with her fiery delivery. Not many can sell a line like “I was thinking of things I’d do if I had the time / Until my fingers smelled like pussy and lucky strikes,” with the assertive sensuality and venom Loveless spits it out with on “Mile High.” Her lyrics mostly deal with romantic situations, but to call them atypical would be a gross understatement. “Boy Crazy” jubilantly documents the singer’s fantasies of infidelity, while “Lover’s Spat” puts her caustic humor at the forefront of a tale of agreed-upon abuse. “So don’t go running round naked by the side of the road / Honey you look ridiculous / With that cut on your eye and your dick hanging out / Why don’t you care about us?” will get you every single time.

Loveless intimately and fervently portrays the alternating currents of sweetness and carnality in relationships, inviting the reading that the two need not be considered separately. While she often (and brilliantly) uses humor to explore that terrain, she attacks more solemn material with the same assurance. “The Water” most elegantly typifies this mood and lilt, with the simple and ambiguous refrain, “That was just fun, you were the son, I was the daughter / Take off your clothes, lie on your back and stare at the water,” landing with force on every repetition.

But you know this already. Boy Crazy and Single(s) is a great collection of music that will hopefully win Loveless some new fans but it can’t escape the faint stench of financial motivation. If you don’t already know this music, it’s as good a way in as you will find. If you do, it’s little more than a superfluity.