Review

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Birdie Busch loves her city. But she doesn't love the city. On her second album, she details the story of "The Huff Singers (North Philly)," a gospel singing group she met while waitressing their brunch. The song is as close to gospel as Busch gets on this indie-goes-country album; over the course of Penny Arcade, you're more apt to hear Busch preferring the "Tombstone Store," doing the "Heel to Toe" and singing about a "Wild Mountain Honey." (The latter is an excellent cover of the Steve Miller classic.) See, Busch takes after Jenny Lewis and Gillian Welch, using the lonesome sounds of the acoustic to relate her (mostly) downbeat tales. She may love her city, but you get the feeling she'd rather be on a porch somewhere looking out over a huge open space. Heck, wouldn't we all?