Jessica Lea Mayfield

Fri., Jan. 30, 9 p.m., $10, with Annuals and What Laura Says, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

by M.J. Fine

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Published: Jan 28, 2009

ROCK/POP

It's hard to find a happy moment on Jessica Lea Mayfield's With Blasphemy So Heartfelt. You won't find it in "Kiss Me Again," which wavers between indifference and resignation. You won't find it in "Call Me," with the slurry singer and her plaintive guitar waiting all night for the phone to ring. And you sure won't find it in "The One That I Love Best," an organ-drenched ode to the putz who keeps stringing her along. There's little solace in the small pockets where true love might dwell; so often, Mayfield sees a choice between being lonely and free and being trapped in the arms of her beloved. Either way, it's a rotten deal. On the desperate closer, "You've Won Me Over," the Kent, Ohio, teen puts all her cards on the table: "It's OK if you love me 'cause you love everyone that you know/ And it's OK if you kiss me 'cause you kiss all the girlies you know." All she asks in return is to hear that she's pretty, but even that's too much for the heartbreaker who pities her bitter looks. It's a sad ending to a sad album but, hopefully, just the beginning of a long career.

Fri., Jan. 30, 9 p.m., $10, with Annuals and What Laura Says, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

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