Kerosene (Sony)r e v i e w
Once you get past the impression that Miranda Lambert sure sounds an awfully lot like Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, there are plenty of reasons to be wilfully smitten by this fine singer's debut
release.
It ranges from the upbeat title track, which blurts out, "I'm given up on love/'Cause love's given up on me," to the sad traveling song of "Greyhound Bound," which admits, "I'm on a Greyhound bound for nowhere." There's even some great country honky-tonk, exemplified by "I Can't Be Bothered." One called "I Wanna Die," by the way, is not nearly as desperate as its title makes it sound. On it, Lambert sings, "If you're the death of me, darlin'/I wanna die."
Far too often, new country singers - especially the female kind - get forced onto the Nashville treadmill, which ultimately bleeds much of the life out of them. But something tells me Lambert has the spunk to beat the system. Let's wait and see if she succeeds.
by Dan MacIntosh
