Living in a small and shockingly closed-minded rural “redneck” community, you become accustomed to certain things. For example, you can’t find any real (not to mention fresh) sushi. As a film buff, I am constantly annoyed over the fact that I am unable to discuss motion pictures with anyone with an IQ over 75. But if there’s one thing I can not and will not give in to, it is the evil of country music.

I hate country music. I loathe it. It serves as little more than confirmation that you don’t need talent to be a musician. It endorses stupidity. Begets line-dancing. Causes bizarre bedroom indiscretions. Worse still, it sounds like a moose that has had all of its limbs hacked off in succession, but refuses to die -- it is only too happy to go on and on about its misery and sorrow, making sure you suffer right along with it.

Although Anna Rose Menken hails from Los Angeles (which, as you may know, is not known for its country music roots), you would swear that she was just another evil, yodelling, guitar-twangin’ country artist. The acoustic works housed on this indie release (written by Ms. Menken herself) sound remarkably similar - even if Anna Rose doesn’t pronounce the letter “R” like a pirate (a common trait of country musicians). Ultimately, the not-too-dissimilar strains and strums are less memorable than a country track (which can stay stuck in your head for days, urging you to potentially kill someone).

And, as I sit here, trying to figure out whether that’s a good thing or not, I’ll go ahead and state for the record about Anna Rose’s self-titled EP: “Skip it.”