Consumer Guide Album

Amy LaVere: Anchors & Anvils [Archer, 2007]
A Detroit-born, Memphis-based ex-punk with a soft voice and a boyfriend who gave her the business, LaVere leaves her wan alt-country debut behind with help from producer Jim Dickinson and a song about killing the boyfriend. Dickinson provides the hint of a groove that his young admirer Paul Taylor failed to deliver last time--and maybe also, songcatcher that he is, a few of the seven tracks his charge didn't write, like the tipsy "Pointless Drinking" or the insatiable "Washing Machine." The song about killing her boyfriend provides the shock that will convince you there's a solid substratum underneath. "Killing him didn't make her love go away," she coos sadly, looking at herself from a distance she's not sure she ever wants to breach. A-