Larkin Poe

Bloom

Tricki-Woo Records

And Bloom they have. From prodigy sprouts whipping out bluegrass magic as the Lovell Sisters to Larkin Poe, initially a folksy but then quickly blues-inflected, leathery roots-rocking band as well as a diamond pure duo that can dig to the heart of practically any popular song. Rebecca and Megan Lovell appear on Ringo’s new country album, Look Up. That album’s producer, T Bone Burnett, enlisted them for his Coward Brothers reunion performance with Elvis Costello on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Rebecca’s guitar playing, Megan’s slung-like-an-axe lap sliding, and their sultry vocal harmonies have become that massively eye-catching.

Bloom, the seventh Larkin Poe studio album, marks yet another major step up, thrusting the sisters and their brand forward towards a completely signature sound. It features a mix of revved up, pop-inflected rock ‘n roll shot through with bullets of the blues, the sound deliciously retro and contemporary at once. Entirely written by Larkin Poe and self-produced with Rebecca’s husband, the Texas guitarist Tyler Bryant (of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown), the two prove that they know themselves, their audience, and their way around a studio. In addition to Rebecca, Megan, and Bryant on guitars, the players include bassist Tarka Layman, drummer Caleb Crosby, and B3 keyboardist Michael Webb. Eleonore Denig provides strings.

Opening with a barrage of greasy, southern rock guitar colliding with sweet melody, “Mockingbird” depicts a thoughtful singer holding true to herself in a world of change. The bouncing, deliberate rocker “Easy Love Pt. 1,” celebrates a love, presumably Lovell and Bryant’s, and features Megan slyly referencing the Allman Brothers on slide guitar. One of several very personal songs with “hit” written all over it, Rebecca sings the song, as she does them all, in a voice velvety and resounding. In the elegant “Little Bit,” she beautifully conveys a yearning for the simple things in life, underscoring the positivity of the message with a big beat and glowing vocal and guitar harmonies that altogether hint at eighties stadium rock.

The band’s versatility and drive come off boundless, yet every song gets right to the point, packing a punch, and setting sharp, appealing hooks that last. In “Nowhere Fast,” the joy of blood-pumping, rebel rock ‘n’ roll barrels forth in ways like it did by The Runaways a half century ago. But Larkin Poe’s bearing runs as deep as its Georgia roots. Anguish gets blown to the side by both southern charm and near-metallic riffing in “Bluephoria,” a song in which Megan slides high with the blues. Then, a dark, hill country blues vapor envelops “If God is a Woman,” in which conventions are questioned and inclusion extolled.

Bloom explodes from one end to the other, its songs collectively glistening as crown jewels of accomplishment in the Larkin Poe catalog for consistency in songwriting, flow, performance, and sound quality. Perhaps they should have called the album Boom for its effects, because the album should propel Larkin Poe’s career like a rocket ship.

Tom Clarke for MAS

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