Customer Reviews
Ooh - shivers! - By: Ms. V. L. Oxby, 17 Jun 2010 
I'm 47 you know. Very old. Oooh, this album is good. Forget all your Lady GaGas & your Lily Allens & your... God knows what generic pop that passes for music nowadays. HEY she has no gimmicky outfit; no strange persona (as far as I'm aware, thus far) she.... who is she? Who she is doesn't really matter. What she's turning out does matter. This is music by someone who isin touch with the pastin such a deep way that I don't think some people out there will get it. Yet it's still music that works today. I haven't felt this moved by an album for years. I'm 47 you know. But don't let that put you off. Dive in. It's important. PURLEESE LoneLady - keep up the good work!! Love it... Buy it... NOW!
Warped Pop - By: Gannon, 19 Mar 2010 
The world is awash with female artistes. Be them folkish, poppish or just plain quirky we're up to our eyeballsin `em. So, how does Julie Campbell, stage name LoneLady, stand out from the crowd? Well, wisely, she's cottoned on to today's less-is-more aesthetic & combined it with a penchant for post-punk.
Nerve Up comes courtesy of Warp, so it's no surprise to meet a few beats along the way. Driven by echoing drum machine patterns & minimal high-tempo throbs, "If Not Know" later concedes to jerky post-punk guitar. The title track & "Intuition" reek of Gang of Four bred on ESG, whereas elsewhere Wire hangin the shadows. These things said, Nerve Up has a pop heart & sounds best loud.
Post-punk tension frequently gives way to frenetic pop tempos that clap & compete for the attention. Really, all that's missing is a knockout punch, & one can't help but feel that inevitable remixes will provide one. "Marble" however comes close. Miredin mid-tempos & less eager to please, it loops & shudders with guitars echoing suspension-likein the mix. Campbell's reverbed vocal combines with chattering guitar angles & organ to round out the track more than competently.
Some latter tracks lack the impact of the earlier ones but are far from poor. For example, "Have No Past" lessens both the beats & post-punk & flirts a little too strongly with Alisha's Attic as a result, but it is happily the exception rather than the rule.
Sufficiently jittery to dance to, sufficiently dark to brood to, most of Nerve Up is fresh yet well-established. With little instrumental backing, Campbell has achieved a fullness of sound away from over-polished pop, but one that is nevertheless rife with the stuff. Rarely does she fall foul of anaemic facsimile (Florence), neither of wilfully quirky pop (Marina). Perhaps it's the Manchester is her, but Nerve Up is a serious record by a serious artiste, & it deserves to be taken seriously too.
LoneLady, you are not alone - By: James Warner, 21 Feb 2010 I've been waiting for this album knowing it was going to be extremely good, having heard the 8-track versions of many of the songs. Julie Campbell has developed a distinct style of spikey guitar riffs like shards of glass & a commanding vocal presence - not necessarily loud, just deliveredin a way which insists that you pay attention. There are intriguing sounds lurkingin these tracks. While there is no actual bass guitar on the entire album, the bass effects at times bring to mind the tolling of a great rubber bell, so play it with the low end cranked up. In a couple of cases I miss the rough-edged punchiness of the more primitive original tracks, where the guitar is morein your face due to there only a drum machine & sparse keyboards to compete with. However, I count myself fortunate to have both versions as they lend themselves to different moods. This is a fine debut album from a very talented artiste who deserves far more recognition than she is currently receiving. Hopefully this will soon change.
Genial - By: P. Matthews, 12 Feb 2010 It is difficult to review this album without falling over oneself with superlatives. So unfamiliar we are to a new decade, & already we have a piece of work which defines our time. Energetic, lo-fi not quite any number of bands which could be shot off from Joy Division to touches of Moloko, but sounding like something new. A fresh form of retro reflection that comes rarelyin the music industry. Music this pure, special & unique only comes from those outside of the mainstream, as "Lonelady" appears as if from nowhere & is currently unscathed by the vicious music industry. With it's 'just a couple of peoplein a studio' feel, it crackles from start to finish.
Buy this album now, & support more artists like this, & let the record companies know we demand this kind of music.
