Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild (2). Merce Lemon

Late last year I was attracted to one of Erwin Zijleman's reviews. Our musical tastes do not always coincide. Sometimes when I read one over before publication, something tells me to take a listen. On even rarer occasions, I go over to the Bandcamp website advertised and buy the download to throw it on a self-burned disc. Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is one such album.

Merce Lemon is a singer and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is active musically somewhere between country, rock, roots and indie. The kind of music I have been buying records of for about 30 years. It all started with the likes of The Walkabouts, Slobberbone and Hazeldine in the 1990s. Merce Lemon fits right in there with her music. She's not afraid to rock out, while throwing a wailing pedal steel guitar into the mix, nor to throw the mood right down, presenting a darker version of a singer-songwriter song. On Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild it happens and from the first to the last second I'm caught by Ms. Lemon's musical magic.

What attracts me most to Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is the way her voice is offset against the music. The production is deliberately dirty, matching the way Merce Lemon sings. She's not out to please sensitive ears with her voices (or music), at least for the main part of the album. It has a take it or leave it quality. I'm taking, thank you. The dense sound gives the album a tough appearance and the singer is thriving in and because of it. Even in the ballads that mood remains, with the difference that the songs are kept far smaller.

Erwin's December post explained everything around the album and Ms. Lemon's career so far, so I can be far briefer and will. I wanted to write anyway, because Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild really impressed me and would have made my 2024 year list, had I had the time to listen to it but simply ran out of time, because of work and travel abroad the whole week before Christmas and the rollercoaster the last week of the year is usually, not to mention the task I undertook to look into my 100 favourite albums of 2000 - 2024.

In between I kept listening and decided to play the album somewhere along the line since my return and was convinced I heard right during that first listening session in December. Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is an album to drive its listeners wild as well.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild here:

https://mercelemon.bandcamp.com/album/watch-me-drive-them-dogs-wild