The Pistol Annies
“Annie Up”
(RCA Nashville)

“Annie Up” is a good title for the Pistol Annies’ second album. Like the gambling term it playfully puns, the title underscores that this brash trio is raising the stakes, investing more time, effort and artistic nerve into its new 12-song collection.

The gamble pays off: “Annie Up” builds on the trio’s successful debut “Hell on Heels” by taking even more risks with bold material and inventive arrangements. Mixing bawdy humor with sensitive insight, the Annies entertainingly take on real-life issues, including how Southern families quell their secrets (“Hush Hush”), how alcoholics curse themselves while pouring another drink (“Dear Sobriety”) and how women struggle with what it takes to prepare for an evening (“Being Pretty Ain’t Pretty”).

The Pistol Annies began as a side lark for country music star Miranda Lambert. Formed with songwriting buddies Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, the trio’s debut initially was available only through the Internet and without the full promotional effort given Lambert’s other albums. But fan support and significant sales lifted these fully armed artists into a significant, ground-breaking act. Rather than play it safe, they roll the dice with another daring collection that should lift their profiles even higher.

(AP)

Another ace up sleeves for Pistol Annies

Iggy and Stooges still have raw power

Iggy and the Stooges
“Ready to Die”
(Fat Possum Records)

Really, Iggy? Ready to die? Not possible. I always thought it would be you and cockroaches at the end of time, man.

“Ready to Die” is the first album from Iggy Pop and members of his old band, the Stooges, since 2007 and the 2009 death of band mate Ron Asheton. And it’s the first to feature former guitarist James Williamson since the 1970s.

It’s classic “Raw Power”-era Stooges from the get-go on “Burn,” a heavy-duty groove that kicks off the collection. And there’s no letup for the next several tunes, including “Gun,” which skewers a violent culture that just might lead its lone-wolf protagonist astray.

Yet the highlight of the collection might be when the assault lets up: on the un-Stooges like “Unfriendly World.” Over spare, acoustic country blues, the 66-year-old Iggy is less your wild uncle and more wise elder, singing in a tender, wistful growl: “Hang onto your girl, cause this is an unfriendly world.”

Even after more than four decades, Iggy doesn’t go down easy -- in all senses of the phrase. But the man and his band have some things worth saying before the cosmic end of the tour.

(AP)

House of Love falls short on new album

House of Love
“She Paints Words in Red”
(Cherry Red Records)

House of Love first emerged on the British music scene in the late 1980s and had some moderate success with singles like “Shine On” and “I Don‘t Know Why I Love You.” Their early sound was somewhere between the Smiths and the Stone Roses, and in many ways the band’s attempts at breaking through to wider audiences were thwarted by those powerhouses of the British rock scene.

But House of Love always had talent. They struggled with drugs, bad producers and feuding among themselves. By 1993, the band had called it quits. They reunited in 2003, recorded an album in 2005 and now in 2013, have delivered “She Paints Words in Red.”

Unfortunately, their new album is lackluster and saccharine. Some of the melodies are sweet enough and not entirely unlistenable, like the opening track, “A Baby Got Back on its Feet,” which shows promise and cues the listener that maybe some more interesting material will follow.

But the remaining 11 songs are riddled with cliches, especially “Hemingway” and “Money Man.” The tracks will valiantly vie for your attention for the three minutes or so of their recorded existence with competent musicianship and decent production, but ultimately will fail.

(AP)