When
Frank Zappa parodies doo wop, or when
Lee Hazlewood makes odd amalgams of country and pop, it's funny because there are indications that these guys are aware that they're deconstructing established idioms.
Loudermilk is like
Zappa and
Hazlewood. What to make of a line like "since Dad's been laid off work, Mary's no longer mine," in a song ("Mary's No Longer Mine") bemoaning the narrator's lack of access to his Dad's car to take Mary out, delivered with minimal emotion? Hardly the usual stuff of 1960s country and pop. The high point of the record is "Two Strangers in Love," very much in the style of
the Everly Brothers (who covered
Loudermilk's "Ebony Eyes" for a hit); one wouldn't be surprised if it turned out it was submitted to the duo for consideration. ~ Richie Unterberger