Album review: Larkin Poe – Larkin Poe

Anyone for the "little sisters of The Allman Brothers"? If that's a scary thought for some, then cease and desist, people, because Rebecca and Megan Lovell – who have each toured as backing musicians for the likes of Conor Oberst and Elvis Costello – are more than mere handy-label adjuncts. With a background in blues, folk and bluegrass (as well as an ill-advised PR-driven pitch about the sisters being distant descendents of Edgar Allen Poe), Rebecca and Megan have latterly dispensed with their country-ish side and bolstered it up with the kind of specialist pop nous that aforementioned Oberst and Costello have. The songs are catchy and clever – Overachiever, simply arranged for voice and piano, is odd but compelling; Jesse is eerie and striking, musically urged on by a story about alcohol and firearms; Elephant, meanwhile, takes the Lovell's country roots influences and adds something altogether different to it. larkinpoe.com

Download: Overachiever, Jesse