Canada’s best kept secret churns out an album that is just too Country for its own good. There’s no alt-country leanings on show here, it’s more Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette than Caitlin Rose or Kacey Musgraves and the whole thing proves a little mainstream for my tastes. That’s not to say it’s not a decent album however, as Lindi certainly belts them out with gusto and enthusiasm, and there’s a couple of cracking songs included.
The problem
is… even though the album is called Cigarettes and Truckstops and Lindi wants
to come over all trailer trashy and country street…she basically can’t pull it
off. Lindi has probably never lived in a trailer, caught an oiled piglet or
smoked enough cigarettes to build a children’s play fort from the packets. Her
dad was probably a vicar, she shops at Sainsburys and will send her kids to
private school. That’s how she sounds anyway, which is a good thing really, if
you think about it. Kacey beats her hands down in the trash-off anyway.
All the songs
have singalong potential but I particularly liked the lilting opener
‘Cigarettes and Truckstops’, the harder edged ‘Don’t Wanna Hear It’ and the
beautiful ballad of ‘You lead me on’. Best of all is the bluesy, deep south
tale of skulduggery that is ‘Murder of Crows’, it’s an exemplary piece of
Country and Western music that would have been a classic at any point in the
last century.
So a mixed bag. Great songs, a lovely voice but the whole trailer trash vibe just doesn’t wash. Enjoyable enough but if you’re new to the genre, head for Kacey or Caitlin first.
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