Mary Lou Lord spreads Shadow over folk, indie-pop

Mary Lou Lord

Got No Shadow

WORK

Mary Lou Lord occupies a weird place in music. Straddling the line between '60s folk and '90s indie-pop, she is probably the only artist who might be considered both pre- and post-punk at the same time (Sebadoh's Lou Barlow comes close, but he's a little too clever for his own good). A great singer with a high, fragile voice -imagine Juliana Hatfield with a pack-a-day habit - she's also a terrific songwriter, though wildly unprolific, and tends to cover other people's material rather than perform her own.

This is not neccesarily bad, especially since her choices in covers tend to be good. And even though the '60s/'90s thing sounds a little forced and precious in theory, on record Lord's songs have an amazing, half-remembered feel. You swear you've heard them somewhere before, but they sound distinctly original and unique.

These are all reasons why her new album, Got No Shadow, is one of the best pop records of the last few years. While her previous recorded work, on Olympia's Kill Rock Stars indie label, showed off her acoustic sound, Got No Shadow is pretty much all electric, and while some of the intimacy of her earlier work gets lost behind the layers of added noise, the new, slicker sound works. While an acoustic ballad like "The Bridge" (from her first, self-titled EP) is hard to imagine with a full band back-up, Got No Shadow's "Some Jingle Jangle Morning," makes for a great rocker. In essence, she's transformed her sound from acoustic folk-pop into something more like straight-ahead power pop, and given that her best material was never really that folky in the first place, the change isn't all that drastic.

Given her talent as a writer, it's also gratifying to discover how prolific Lord has become. Some of the new songs are co-written with Nick Saloman, of England's The Bevis Frond, and she covers four Saloman tunes. However, the best tracks are those written by Lord herself - "Some Jingle Jangle Morning" is classic power pop, and the magnificent "Western Union Desperate" is a poignant, bittersweet love song. The Saloman-collaboration "His Lamest Flame" - another post-breakup song which is something of Lord's stock in trade - combines rueful, wistful lyrics with a killer hook and a sing-along melody, making for great pop music.

The album is not without its missteps: the Freedy Johnston cover "The Lucky One" is alright but nowhere near as good as the original, while the version of Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree" (with guitar by longtime pal Elliot Smith) comes off as more than a little precious and cute. The last few songs on the album, while all decent, are a little low on energy and the album ends with more a whimper than a bang as the last track fades away.

Whatever problems Got No Shadow may have, they are more than compensated for. It is an overall solid effort, and Lord has one of the more distinctive voices in pop music. And while her work comes out of a clear musical lineage, she's definitely her own woman. Her label is apparently planning a big push for the record, and given her current "next big thing" status, she may very well succeed as a major artist.

In any case, Got No Shadow is a great album. It is both a summing up of Lord's career and a step forward. We are only left to wonder what she will come up with next.