Laura Bell Bundy - Achin' And Shakin' (2010) Lossless

When a new artist comes along they really need something to set them apart from the pack and that's exactly what we get with Laura Bell Bundy's "Two records, one woman" motto. Does she set herself apart with this debut album?

The concept for Laura Bell Bundy’s major label debut album Achin’ and Shakin’ was literally to split the album into two distinct types of songs, ballads and up-tempo tracks. The first half of the album are ballads –Produced By Nathan Chapman – that mix in the soul of old school R&B like Dusty or Aretha with the country of songs like icon Dolly Parton and recent fare from the likes of Faith Hill. While these influences are clearly in Laura Bell Bundy’s music, she is very much her own woman as she sings the songs of the Achin’ side of the record.

The record kicks off with “Drop On By.” Now a song with a music video (click here to watch), this ballad really feels like a song ready to soar on the country charts this fall. The playing is inventive and fun with a killer guitar solo in between verses with Laura singing a track about how she’d feel if the couple “could get back together, we could make this night last forever, why don’t you drop on by.” It is clearly a ‘moody throw-back that sounds extremely great. With just an acoustic guitar playing behind her, Laura Bell sings “Curse The Bed” and the results are appropriately elegant, even after the band kicks in.

“Cigarette” is a track that was first found on her single release of Shakin’ single “Giddy On Up” and it is the song that really got me excited to hear the rest of Achin’ and Shakin’. “Cigarette” is a steel-soaked piece of country soul while “Please” reminds me of a modern melodic twin to “Black Velvet.” “Homecoming Queen” is a song that feels like Laura Bell Bundy’s own story and it’s completely a country song and feels like a future single, perhaps competing with “Drop On By” for the fall/winter single choice. “When It All Goes South” is the final half of the Achin’ side of the record and it feels remarkably like a classic country song refreshed for modern times.

With Achin’ behind us, it’s time to get to the Shakin’ side of the album. The first track on this half of the 12 song Achin’ & Shakin’ album is the smart, sassy kiss-off single “Giddy On Up.” Quite simply there hasn’t been a single (watch the video here) this groovy and infectious with as much attitude since Shania Twain’s last hit record a half-decade ago. It’s the kind of song that makes an immediate impression and sets up the second half of Achin’ & Shakin’ quite nicely. The second track “I’m No Good (For You Baby)” has spoken verses while Laura Bell sings about being the kind of girl that she is. The track mixes the 60s soul and R&B with some traditional country elements while “Rebound” feels more like a modern country rock song (with nicely placed horns, banjo and fiddles) with a meaty instrumental arrangement that recalls Shania Twain’s “If You’re Not In It For Love (I’m Outta Here).”

“Boyfriend?” is spirited and funky and it’s the exact kind of temp-filled country rock song that Carrie Underwood should be doing. It is clearly a country song with a distinct funkabilly soul to it. “If You Want My Love” starts off feeling like it is gonna go in a “Thank God I’m A Country” boy direction and then turns a slightly different way before Laura Bell goes all Dolly on us with both the lyrics, the vocal arrangement and really just the whole song. “Everybody” closes out the record and it features some stellar chicken pickin’, harmonica and has quite a bit of tempo and of the other songs on this Shakin’ side, this one feels like a great ‘personal’ anthem. Here we have something that feels more like a Sugarland song and less of a Dolly or traditional country or ‘soul’ song but it feels like an important song that boys and girls everywhere could stand to listen to.

Achin’ and Shakin’ is clearly the work of a really talented artist. Every track on the record was co-written by Laura Bell Bundy except for “Drop On By,” which was written by Brice Long and Ronnie Rogers. Achin’ and Shakin’ announces the arrival of an important new star for country music. The best thing about Laura Bell Bundy is that she’s clearly her own artist, with a vision for the kind of artist she wants to be. She isn’t afraid to take chances on this album and her record label Mercury Nashville allowed her to not only take them but to thrive with it. Achin’ and Shakin’ does have a few moments that recall Laura Bell Bundy’s Broadway past but it’s also part of what makes the album so darn charming. Achin’ and Shakin’ is a record full of spirit, personality and in the end; it’s exactly the kind of album that more artists should be willing to record a record that is reflective of the artist itself.