After releasing
Slowtown Now!
in August 2015 (recorded in England and her first album featuring a full band in a decade),
Holly Golightly
might have left some fans wondering if she was moving back to the ragged-but-right pop vocal sound she first made her name with rather than the stripped-down and rootsy approach of her albums with
the Brokeoffs
. The appearance of
Coulda Shoulda Woulda
in October 2015, released just two months later and recorded with her
Brokeoffs
collaborator
Lawyer Dave
, should serve as evidence that
was just a detour, but
is definitely a step up from most of
Golightly
's albums since relocating to the United States. While
's voice has always been strong enough to suit the bluesy, country-accented material that dominates the
' albums, on
the accompaniment is more full-bodied, with
Jeff Walls
(formerly of
Electric Frankenstein
and
Guadalcanal Diary
) contributing guitar on several tracks, and the layered guitars, keyboards, and drums giving this a richness that's been absent from much of
's sessions with
. There's also a lively sense of irreverence in the material, from the outlaw neighbors in "Apartment 34" and the reefer-smoking lost souls of "Marijuana, the Devil's Flower," to several tunes that thumb their nose at religion, including the anti-Christmas carol "Christmas Is a Lie" and the screed against the collection plate "Heaven Buy and Buy," and if the songs in the latter category lack a certain subtlety,
sings them with the fervor of a true non-believer. Ultimately,
swaggers with a spirit that's closer to rock & roll than most of
's earlier releases with
; she seems happy to rise to the occasion and belt out her tunes with authority and snarky joy, and that's what makes this album a success. ~ Mark Deming