Review: Indigo Girls

Social activism - check. Intelligent lyrics - check. Upbeat, positive outlook - check. Wait, what was that last thing? The Indigo Girls have weathered 20 years in the music industry; they might be forgiven for having a downbeat, cynical attitude. On their 10th studio album, though, the Girls are - dare I say it? - downright sunny and optimistic.

Perhaps they've concluded that although the world forecast is doom and gloom, the music doesn't have to be. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have left behind the melodrama of their early years, when listening to their tunes was sometimes akin to attending a suicide watch.

Exhibit A: the amazingly catchy "Pendulum Swinger." Sure, they're taking their usual jabs at President Bush, but they've coated it all in easy-to-digest, radio-friendly pop.

Don't throw out the sackcloth and ashes just yet, though. While the majority of the songs are upbeat, ranging from the catchy sway of "Little Perennials" to the full-on rock of "Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate," the Indigo Girls haven't abandoned their favorite topics of tragedy and heartbreak. Whether lamenting a friend's descent into drug addiction on the funereal "Dirt and Dead Ends" or the plight of farmers on "They Won't Have Me," their trademark melancholy is still intact. Matters of the heart take top billing on "Run," and "All The Way," a tune about the all-consuming nature of love: "At the heart the blue flame burns / All the way I took the crash-course impact / But have I learned all that I'm supposed to learn?"

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