A Girl Called Eddy

Erin Moran, a.k.a. A Girl Called Eddy, must have one heck of a record collection. This set echoes everything that made pop music exciting 40 years ago; think Burt Bacharach composing for the Velvet Underground or Ennio Morricone writing saloon songs for Nancy Sinatra. Moran's voice, halfway between Marianne Faithfull's drowsy rumble and Dusty Springfield's soulful croon, puts a hopeful spin on her tales of romantic hard luck, accented by an exalted melodic sense and a world-weary persona -- a difficult feat for someone of her tender years. There's not a weak track here, and many sound like hits, including "The Long Goodbye," with its chiming guitar hook, "People Who Used to Dream About the Future," accented by a string chart that brings to mind a feverish blend of Bacharach and Lennon/McCartney, and "Tears All Over Town," which builds to an Orbison-esque emotional catharsis.