3 keepers
keeper avg .300
"Caryatid Easy," the most rockin' song on Son Volt's second album, is more of a stark take on R.E.M than hard country-rocker, like the energizing "Drown" (from the previous one); however it's a far better way to begin an album than "Windfall," so it's as good a place to start as any. "Picking Up The Signal" is a similar approach with similar returns, with an overly-fiddly guitar riff played too clean. Between these is the best song on the album, the Soul Asylum-like "Back into Your World"****, with a tasteful 12-string electric counterpointing Jay Farrar's vocal lines.
Other than the middling rocker "Cemetery Savior" (starting off side 2 on my imaginary LP) the album settles into a deliberate, laid-back pace for the duration, with only the inclusion of pedal steel, mandolin, or banjo to differentiate most of the songs. With pretty much the same band and producer as Trace there are few surprises, though the droning "Been Set Free"**** (co-written by his wife Monica), a valedictory sung from the point of view of a murdered woman, evokes a grim, chilling tone, and "Last Minute Shakedown"**** has some especially tasteful lap steel accents.
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