Kelly Hogan, sweet and lovely

The plan for this week was to snag an advance copy of Bob Dylan’s new Tempest elpee, but nobody would give me one, so I had to get to something IN A REAL FAST HURRY. In my scramble in search of NEW SOUNDS, came across an enthusiastic social media message from a friend who went to Kelly Hogan’s Milwaukee show about a week ago and then I remembered that I have the latest Kelly Hogan elpee (had it since June!) and never wrote about it. TAH – DAH (!!!)

Kelly Hogan’s record is called I Like To Keep Myself In Pain, her first solo record in over a decade. If you don’t know, Kelly Hogan is a singer who is all about service to the song, a statement that explains why you don’t know about her (if, in fact, you don’t). She’s made a living singing behind BIG STARS and dog shampoo jingles. On this record, she sings songs written by a handful of her better known friends, songs they wrote just for her to sing.

The title track was written by Robyn Hitchcock, and its lilting melody suits Hogan perfectly. It’s a sweet and mournful piece of honky-tonk about a pain that is continuously poked at because pain is all that remains. Much of this record has a similar country flavor, but there are a few deviations, like the heartache-heavy “Whenever You’re Out Of My Sight,” which comes across like lounge… country… quite effectively. “Slumber’s Sympathy” could work in some alternate universe “Blue Velvet” where Frank Booth is wearing pink pajamas and Dorothy Vallens is hot-rodding around town throwing open cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon through store windows. “I Like To Keep Myself In Pain” is a fine document of Kelly Hogan’s endlessly lovely voice. I hope she doesn’t wait another eleven years to make another.

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