Born Angelina Teresa Iapolo, 29-year-old Canadian Lullaby Baxter has a smooth, smoky voice and a straight, sweet delivery. But any degree of sexiness is significantly shot when you listen to the self-penned lyrics on her debut disc, Capable Egg: Wrapped in a Willy Wonkalike whirl of New Orleans funeral marches, Space Age lounge, Tex-Mex and grilled Austin roots-rock, Baxter’s wordplay makes the musings of “Weird Al” Yankovic read like Sylvia Plath. Song titles include “Knucklehead,” “Mr. Powder-Blue Breadbox,” “Mama (Should I Bake a Cherry Pie and Hide You Inside?)” and “Morty-Mort-Morton Showstopper Calhoun.” A sample of the Seussian sentiments: “Higgledy-piggledy/Rat-a-tat-tat/Saleslady, saleslady/Sell us a hat” (from album opener “Hopscotch”) and “Would you like a subscription/To my diary?/Then when I merge with the infinite/You can impersonate me” (from “Ding-A-Ling”). It’s utter nonsense, yes, but it’s fun, catchy and very, very cool in that Bob Dorough- does-Schoolhouse Rock way.
Lullaby Baxter Trio: Capable Egg
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