Neko Case is a dead-sexy indie superstar. She’s nothing less than an alt-country prima donna with a voice that levels cities. Every red-blooded man, woman and child wants to have sex with her. And she knows it.
Because these facts have been firmly established, she is now acting with a sense of self-assurance to rival that of U2’s Bono (I should mention that unlike Bono, Case has actual talent). In short, “Middle Cyclone” is proof that Neko Case has gotten ballsy.
How ballsy? She’s released a full record of love songs, a type she once claimed she was incapable of producing. She’s covered a song from Harry Nilsson (perhaps best known for writing “that one midnight cowboy song”) and Sparks on the same record, and fully owned both songs (“Don’t Forget Me” and “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth,” respectively). And she has the whole record available for free listens on NPR’s Web site. Ballsy? Hell, just glance at the record cover, which depicts a barefoot Case perched atop a ’67 Cougar, holding a longsword.
But the real weapon here is Case’s own larynx-mounted instrument. Her inflection and cadence have an intoxicating quality that seemingly renders every utterance infinitely compelling. Honestly, I think if anyone else even tried to deliver some of these verses, everything would just totally go to crap. Case in point: the title track, which laments: “…can’t give up actin’ tough…can’t scrape together quite enough / to ride the bus to the outskirts of the fact that I need love.” You might not believe me… but this metaphor, as it’s delivered and, set to a gentle guitar melody and an always-creepy glockenspiel, becomes touchingly poignant (and not in the least awkwardly overextended).
Similarly, “Magpie to the Morning” just somehow works, even though the presence of M. Ward on guitar and a chorus line of Neko Cases (or is it Neko Casen?) would seem like a bit too much. Ditto with “Prison Girls,” which grinds along to a sensual, driving beat, as Case seduces the listener: “I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes.” A country slow-jam? Sure. She pulls it off.
Basically, Neko Case has made an album full of love songs, sure, but it’s done completely on her terms; namely fierce, female sexuality. In the lead track, “This Tornado Loves You,” Case takes on the perspective of a scorned tornado/woman who has “…waited with glaciers, patient / smashed every transformer with every trailer / ’til nothing was standing…still you were nowhere…” She later asserts: “the next time you say forever / I will punch you in your face” and declares “I’m a man-man-man-man-man-man-eater, but still you’re surprised-prised-prised when I eat you.” Essentially, this delivers a type of sexual intrigue that is primal; really, we’d all like to have sex with someone that scares us a little bit. And Neko Case scares us a little bit.