Sven Curth uncorks laughter and lightning-fast licks in “My Baby Hates Me When She’s Drinking (Live)”

Sven Curth’s raucous, good-matured romp that transforms relationship troubles into boot-stomping fun. There are breakup songs, there are drinking songs, and then there’s “My Baby Hates Me When She’s Drinking (Live).” Recorded live, the track is bursting with personality from the first note. It’s a funny, high-spirited country swing that isn’t going to take itself too seriously. Curth applies a wink and a grin to the quirks of love and late nights, giving a performance that sounds less like a studio take than having wandered into the best bar gig of your life.

The song sparkle isn’t just its humor, it’s the musicianship. Bolstered by rockabilly guitar riffs that snap and glimmer, as well as blistering banjo runs that burn through the arrangement, the song demonstrates Curth’s knack for fast and fancy playing. The energy is contagious, the rhythm unshakeable. You can almost hear the crowd smiling in between the beats.

As a polymath singer/songwriter, Curth has one foot in the showbiz world and the other everywhere else, here he finds room for that restless creativity. The song gallops assertively through country roots while saluting rockabilly swagger. It’s quirky and irreverent, sure, but there’s sweetness hiding under the satire. It’s that balance that gives “My Baby Hates Me When She’s Drinking (Live)” its irony and staying power. It’s as funny as it is heartfelt.

Amid a sea of overproduced singles, Sven Curth serves up something we could all use right now: A live performance full of human buzz, marked by simply captivating songwriting and fearless musicianship. Raise a glass, but perhaps not too many glasses, to a song written with fellow bluegrass stalwart, Tim O’Brien. That demonstrates that sometimes the best way to cope with love’s exasperation is by laughing, playing faster, and letting loose on the banjo.