http://www.austin360.com/music/conte...1/1104cds.html
Little Big Town's songs go their own way
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Little Big Town - 'A Place to Land'
(Equity Music Group)
A note from Little Big Town guitarist Jimi Westbrook, as reported by CMT.com, on their new album "A Place to Land": "We're fans of albums that you listen to from start to finish, like 'Rumours' and 'Red Headed Stranger.' "
You have to admire his honesty; those two references sum up the band about well as humanly possible. In fact, everything about Little Big Town screams "country act modeled after Fleetwood Mac" — the multiple lead singers, the close harmonies, the tasteful guitar solos, the tightly rendered songcraft which lands just barely on the box marked "country." Imagine a group basing their aesthetic on the Dixie Chicks' cover of "Landslide" and you have a pretty good idea of Little Big Town's M.O. (In fairness, that cover was in 2001 and Little Big Town has been kicking around since 1999.) Karen Fairchild and Westbrook are even married to each other: uh-oh.
All of that said, they've learned all the right moves from the Mac. The earnestness on "A Place to Land" never sounds forced or too dramatic; their way with a tune saves them. "Fine Line" pleas for emotional intimacy without selling out to whining. "I'm With the Band" both celebrates and laments the endless one-nighters of a hard-working band, while "Novocaine" might as well be easy listening country rock. "Evangeline" is a tightrope, a mediation on the complexities of emotional abuse that just barely errs on the side of awkward. ("Evangeline, you're a hard one/ Your denial is bolstered by your dreams/ Thinking love is gonna save you /But it ain't love if it's mean.") The Mac would be proud.
Recommended tracks:'I'm With the Band,' 'Lonely Enough'