This is what happens when a teenage Puerto Rican punk from the Bronx runs away from home and rides the rails until she lands in New Orleans and starts making albums. Throwback folk at its finest—Alynda Lee Segarra’s easy-going, alto vocal brings sweetness with a serraded edge a la Fiona Apple. The simple lyrics expertly tap into the universal, whether it’s musings on unexpected brushes with human mortality “Crash on the Highway” or a murder ballad gone feminist protest song (“The Body Electric”). Watch out for the killer metrical shifts on “End of the Line.” Mighty fine. – Ted Jamison
Score: 7 out of 10
