Hickish alt-rock smacking of Old 97s in a Stones mood; as such it’s a mixed bag as far as hooks, whether or not originality is a constant. The bass is positively buried in the mix, which favors (and rightly so, if not to such extremes) Tom Townsend’s Van Morrison/Tom Petty tenor. “This Time” would achieve greatness with a different title, but Townsend parrots Michael Hutchence’s drawl in the INXS tune of the same name, leaving it little more than a drive-by gawk; “Crooked Straight”‘s unplugged mollycoddling is a “Wild Horses” in desperate search of a sweet spot. Order at Tower Records.
