There's an offbeat, off-the-cuff quality that makes Amy LaVere's Anchors Anvils easy to like. First, there's the choice of songs, like the opener, Killing Him, with LaVere sweetly singing that killing a love interest isn't enough to make the love go away. This, of course, wouldn't be very funny if a man sang it, but LaVere's straight reading and the melancholy fiddle accompaniment find the right balance. Paul Taylor's Pointless Drinking falls into a similar groove, a funny-sad song married to a '50s-style melody. The simple arrangements add to the album's left-of-center appeal, with steel guitars, fiddles, and guitars whipping up a lazy mixture that falls somewhere between old rock and country with perhaps a touch of jazz thrown in. At one moment, LaVere and company cover Tex-Mex (Overcome), the next, funky rock (People Get Mad). Even on a fairly straightforward song like That Beat, the band brings a carefree joy that commingles well with LaVere's torch singer vocal. Unlike many singer/songwriters, LaVere has pulled good songs from a variety of sources, and even when she borrows a song from a familiar figure like Bob Dylan, she borrows one of his lesser-known songs (I'll Remember You). Anchors Anvils' off-the-cuff qualities help separate the album from run-of-the-mill singer/songwriter product, and because of this, make LaVere more appealing than the average singer/songwriter. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi

1		Killing Him
2		Tennessee Valentine
3		That Beat
4		Pointless Drinking
5		Washing Machine
6		Overcome
7		People Get Mad
8		Cupid's Arrow
9		Time Is a Train
10		I'll Remember You

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow