Doyle Bramhall II - s/t

Full of well-executed jazzy blues, the songs focus more on slick grooves and soulful vocals than chunky leads. When the leads do turn up, their sound is familiar for one who remembers the first Arc Angles album that gave Bramhall some exposure 20 years ago. "What You Gonna Do" is the first un-apologetically pop tune, built on a jangly riff by way of Zeppelin, and towering multi-part vocals similar to King's X. Likewise, "Jealous Sky" is built on droning riffs that would fit right in on that Arc Angels release. At its hardest, such as the frantically crashing bridge of "Close To Me" and grunge-funk intro of "True Emotion", there are hints of the Black Crowes, though the latter is sunk by some clumsy lines like the creative rhyming, "I wake up to the smell of burning flesh with a cigarette out on my chest, the first thing that came to mind was the last time that we ever had sex". On the other end are mysterioso "Time", a kind of bluegrass "Battle Of Evermore", unremarkable folky "He Stole Our Love Away", and a sleepy ballad "They Get Together". The prominent jazzy of piano of closer "Stay A While" would have Ben Folds looking for copied phrases, but most songs aren't far from the aesthetic average of adult contemporary of WXRT.