What makes a rock band successful in 2022? Certainly not the same recipes as a few years ago. The provocations and outrageousness, which made the glory hours of the rock stars of the past, have become obsoletes. What works today is simplicity and closeness to the fans. Larkin Poe is a perfect example of this.
The fame of the two sisters has exploded since "Self Made Man", thanks to these two essential ingredients of today's marketing. During the pandemic, they have been climbing the Youtube charts with their acoustic covers of the great rock and hard rock standards, filmed on camera and sitting on their couch. From there, we can imagine Rebecca composing the songs of this new album, "Blood Harmony", on the kitchen table while her sister Megan was baking cakes and her husband Tyler Bryant was drinking beers on the terrace, it's only a step that we happily take. Other times, other customs... So much the better or so much the worse, it doesn't really matter, as long as the talent is there to show us that you don't have to be as unhappy as stones to play the blues.
The sisters have talent in spades, and they prove it once again. All the tracks of "Blood Harmony" are a condensed know-how in terms of compositions, and are the reflection of the remarkable complicity of the two Lovell sisters. Wonderful vocal harmonies ('Deep Stays Down', 'Lips As Cold As Diamond'), a perfect marriage between Rebecca's guitar and Megan's lap-steel, a sound that is both modern and well rooted in the electric blues tradition, everything contributes to grab the listener from the first note and not let him go until 'Lips As Cold As Diamond', the splendid final duet.
But Larkin Poe is not satisfied with mastering the codes of blues rock to perfection. After all, this music has nothing original and the gospel ('Blood Harmony') and southern influences ('Southern Comfort') are commonplace in this style. So what makes the Georgian band so unique? The answer is as rare as it is simple: "Blood Harmony" exudes an uncommon joy and pleasure of being together.
That's the secret of Larkin Poe. The two women are well in their time and their pleasure to play, to sing and to make music together is so communicative that it is impossible not to admire the authenticity and the simplicity with which they invite us to share it. If after listening to "Blood Harmony", you don't feel like becoming their friend, listen again and keep your ears open, this album breathes the joy of life, and it feels great.