Amy Allison – No Frills Friend
Amy Allison’s third album adds new dimensions to the vocalist’s pose as downtown NYC country chanteuse. The opener, “What’s The Deal?”, evokes the easy, pastoral roll of the Byrds’ “Ballad Of Easy Rider”; it is lush, winsome and reflective all at once, with Allison’s evocative, funny little voice providing comfort even as it hints at the tragic undercurrents. The easy jangles of the title track and “Completely Yours” have a similarly languid beauty.
“Baby, You’re The One”, an approximation of Goffin/King circa 1964 (replete with handclaps and girlish backing vocals), plunges even more gleefully into sugar-coated pop regions. And there’s the point: whereas Allison’s earlier albums implied that she’s a strong pop songwriter, this time it’s implicitly stated. Allison was good as the booze-soaked country tragedian (played to the hilt on her 1996 debut The Maudlin Years), but she’s even better in this timeless pop idiom, swinging from post-Byrds janglus genericus to Brill-built heartwreckers.
Allison has written some pretty numbers before, but few as nice and straightforward as the reverbed silvertones of “Don’t String Me Along” or the bruised country-pop balladry of “Say It Isn’t So”. However, her true turf is neither country nor pop, but unlucky love. And her heartworn muse has never been rendered so breathtakingly gentle.