It might be a fact that the last place you'd expect to find a cover of an Iggy Pop song is on a country album, never mind one by Kelly Willis. And if, by some miracle, that's where you found it then I doubt you'd expect it to be very good...but you'd be wrong.
In fact, Success may well be the highlight of Kelly Willis' first "proper" album in five years (because no one counts Christmas albums my dears); crucially however it is far from the only song worth investigating on the album and merely it appearance on the album in the first place gives a good indication of how varied the album is in terms of sound.
Teddy Boys opening guitar riffs evoke the spirit of Chuck Berry whilst Loving You, with it's banjo and pedal steel combination is much more traditionally country. The More I'm Around You brings to mind a 60's pop vibe whereas Don't Know Why has a much more 1980's country sound to it.
Incredibly though, the album hangs together as a cohesive work, helped by Willis and a fantastic band.
"New Country" can be said to be a lot of things; rarely however, is it quite as good as it is here.
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