Mary Lou Lord ‎– Mary Lou Lord CD

Move over Juliana Hatfield, here comes another airy-voiced Bostoner to ride the indie train nonstop to pop stardom. Well- connected on both coasts, on the hometown scene as well as in her adopted northwestern haven of Olympia, Washington, Lord is climbing the ladder of success and further blurring the definition of the alternative nation. With her cutesy siren and bubbling ambition to unseat Courtney Love as queen of nevermind, she's a major label recording artist waiting to happen.

For now, though, she's just a hip, young folksinger in the grand old tradition of her buddy Beck, who turns some typical folky tricks on her self-titled debut minialbum. Of the eight tracks, seven are self-accompanied only by acoustic guitar , five are covers, and one is the sort of outsmarting tongue-in-cheek social commentary you'd expect to hear at coffeehouse open-mikes.

The funny one is called "His Indie World" and is Lord's explanation of why "I don't fit into this indie scene," complete with rhymes like: "Just give me my Joni, my Nick, Neil, and Bob/You can keep your Tsunami, your Slant 6 and Smog." It's better than most novelties, but ultimately just a novelty. The real centerpiece of the album is a full-band electric version of The Bevis Frond's "Lights Are Changing." A well-chosen cover given à la mode grunge guitar/modern rock treatment, the track relegates Lord to "vocals and air guitar" in front of a six-piece band and thus prepares her for the day she becomes the Belinda Carlisle of the 90s.

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Country: US

Media Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)
Sleeve Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)