Anne McCue: Roll

ALREADY FAMILIAR to fans of Lucinda Williams after a lengthy stint as an opening act, Australian-born McCue has effortlessly mastered the bluesy drawl of her mentor, but this is one apple capable of rolling a good distance from the tree. At times she evokes the icily perfect diction of Christine McVie ('Crazy Beautiful Child'), the skewered lyrical adventure of Aimee Mann ('50 Dollar Whore') and the pop sheen confidence of Sheryl Crow ('Stupid'), while always remaining her own woman. The voice and the songs aside, McCue is one hell of a guitarist. Roll is essentially the work of a power trio (who occasionally sound like The Faces), and the no-frills approach is betrayed only when Anne lets rip on a blistering solo - the closing ten-minute charge through 'Machine Gun' is probably the best Hendrix cover you'll ever hear. With a recent history including spells in a Melbourne guitar-based girl group and with a jazz band in Vietnam (!), the Anne McCue story makes for fascinating reading. The breadth of styles and the downright swagger of the songs on Roll mean the story is also blessed with a fabulous soundtrack.