Lydia Loveless’ recommendation: “As a 13-year-old growing up in the butt crack of nowhere, I really had never heard anything like The Fever before the day I heard them blasting out of my older sister’s bedroom. It sounded like John Lennon mining for diamonds with the seven dwarfs as his backing band. Geremy Jasper’s voice and lyrics were a big turn-on for me. The first time I saw them live was when I realized that the bands I idolized weren’t necessarily other worldly rock stars. I’d recommend starting with their album Red Bedroom. That’s where I started, and it’s worth it for the song Put it On You alone.”

More about The Fever

MP3: Gray Ghost by The Fever

About our guest author, Lydia Loveless: We first heard about Lydia Loveless when her album, The Only Man made a Donewaiting.com top albums of the year list. That album won her an 8 out of 10 rating from Spin as well as praise from The Chicago Tribune and Uncut magazine. Our interest in Lydia then moved closer toward mild obsession when she got signed by Bloodshot Records, the label that put out recordings by alt-country heroes Whiskeytown, The Old 97s, Alejandro Escovedo and Neko Case. Her latest effort, Indestructible Machine (CD Pre-order | Amazon MP3s) is a fantastic follow-up (Spin has already weighed in with another 8 out of 10 glowing review), full of the signature cowpunk that delighted on the debut. There’s plenty of straight talk, humor and a bunch of ‘explicit’ labels to boot. This twenty-one year old firecracker is on tour now. See her live, grab a brew and get ready to stomp your feet off.

MP3: Can’t Change Me by Lydia Loveless