When I asked Lydia Loveless if there was a theme that ran though Indestructible Machine she said, “You know, I talk so much shit that I often forget who I’m talking to, so I’d have to say no. I don’t even have a theme for my life, or a direction for that matter, which I’ve been told isn’t going to help move me through a music career, but then, music is just something I do, have been since I was a teen. I might not be here tomorrow, or I might be here blazing under an entirely different persona.”It’s kind of strange to hear someone so young talk about themselves so disjointedly, but then, as Lydia said, she’s been doing this for a very long time already, laying down a fine mix of country meets punk in a manner that is unique and all her own, set to a passion and maturity that’s going to take her far as she refines and develops her style. Most artists don’t consider being themselves on stage, and this was what Lydia was laughing about when she talked to me regarding personas, because Lydia doesn’t hide behind a persona or a character, she gets her actual hands dirty, sings songs about an actual life biographically and shamelessly … extolling the attitude of “this is who I am, take it or leave it, I don’t care.”Loveless has been accused of over-singing, which others feel leads to burying her musical content, but I love her relentless dialog, her banter, her intelligence, her wit, and her candor. On the other hand, some critics have said that while her music is engaging, that her ever present droning electric guitar draws a lot of space out of the project. These same critics with no musical background other than being critics go on to explain the common practice of recording parts of songs and reassembling them later, and then profess that her songs become busy and lose the groove. So, in Lydia’s defense, let me assure you that what she’s done she’s done on purpose, the music you here are the sounds of Lydia’s life, one that’s perhaps seen and experienced more than most people of her age, with these attributes being deemed as more worthy as she gets older and develops her presentation more, though the so-called confusion found here rests on solid ground and has purposely been constructed in this manner … as if she’s trying to catch that white knuckled feeling of riding in the back of an open pickup truck with no seatbelt, and bouncing out onto the road more than once.Why so many seem destined to punch so many holes in her music is beyond me, because it’s really fun. You’re going to see so much of yourself, aspects of yourself that you deny, though when Lydia sings lines that pull back the curtains, you’re gonna laugh right out loud at both yourself and the fact that you ever felt compelled to try and engage in secrets … because all truth eventually seems out. This is a really fine album, and anyone who talks about potential regarding Lydian Loveless is wearing clean polished cowboy boots, without the scuffs and dust necessary for sonic integrity. Review by Jenell Kesler