One thing the Americana revival has largely forgotten (which country music never has) is its sense of humor. Loves It, the wacky semi-folk duo of Vaughn Walters and Jenny Parrott hailing from Austin, TX, draws deep not only from a wild variety of genres for their second album — folk, country, gospel, ’50s rock ’n‘ roll, and even punk — but also demonstrates an incredibly broad emotional palette.
With considerable hilarity, they joke around on the old-timey country tune “(Would You Like to Be) My First Divorce” and yet still manage to swing the earnest gravity necessary to wring out tears on the sad and sweet “Appalachian Ballad”. The album’s high point might be the jazzy country shuffle “Western Swing Murder”, which gives us the weirdly gleeful back and forth between a murderous man and his unsuspecting female companion. Among the many wide-eyed questions she asks him: “Just what are you doing with that heavy metal cleaver? / I thought you wanted it like Leave It to Beaver?”