The UK-born, Georgia-based singer, songwriter and perpetually in-demand guest artist -- in her 20-plus-year career, she's appeared on over 30 albums, from rockabilly to blues to punk to garage -- is an early rock 'n' roll, country and gospel obsessive. She may not do much crate-digging these days, but she doesn't need to. The wild, rough and joyous sound of American music has settled deep into her bones.
On "Sunday Run Me Over," Golightly, with partner Lawyer Dave (aka the Brokeoffs), peregrinates through all these sounds and styles, both holy and unholy, hilarious and deadly serious. Witness what the couple -- who once again recorded in their farmhouse studio, only this time with "pretty fancy equipment" -- do with old-time country master Wayne Raney's "We Need A Whole Lot More of Jesus." Raney's ur-Tea Party evangelism gets turned on its oh-so-pious head:
You can read it in the morning paper, hear it on the radio
Christ is taking the nation and we don't all want to go
We need some rationalization before they take control
We need a whole lot less of Jesus and a lot more rock 'n' roll.
But the music and the singing are, in their own twisted way, quite affectionate and traditional, respectful of country music, without being reverential, let alone deferential.
"The Future's Here" is just as witty, with a goofy lyric about rocket ships and robot cars, and slide guitar that rips its way straight out of the backest backwaters. For Holly and Dave, the future may be here but the sound of the past is way more fun.
In the end, that's what most concerns this duo. They have a blast with barreling country blues on lead track "Goddamn Holy Roll," get funky and junky on "Tank" (recalling the more stripped-down moments of "Exile on Main St."), waltz and harmonize through the Davis Sisters' classic "I Forgot More" and throw everything but the chicken coop at the Cramps-esque punkabilly stomp "This Shit Is Gold." When American music is played with this much joy and abandon, it most certainly is.
"Sunday Run Me Over" will be released on October 9, 2012 by Transdreamer.
