Electric Rodeo

In a recent interview, claimed that was actually recorded before , which was released first. Sonically, is louder, rawer, more upfront than its predecessor, though there are solid, old-school tunes here as well: the wild fiddle stomp of and the broken love song with its intro and whinnying pedal steel. But as the title suggests, for the most part, is a hardcore, roaring record. ' band -- on guitar, on drums, and on bass with on steel, and backing vocals by no less than -- are a crack crew. They swagger and slither and stomp, but they know how to whisper, too. On tracks such as the title, and the jet-propelled swamp of -- with a guest vocal by -- uses angular , / dynamics -- complete with Mac Truck volume guitars -- tight, big whomp drums, and the almighty riff to get his hell-raising message across. There are also some more -styled cuts such as and They recall the brand of historic music ' father helped to pioneer in the 1970s. The term " " is simply a musically descriptive word now; it's not meant to be a millstone around 's neck -- even though he directly references often (and let's face it, if anyone has a right to do that, it's him). is solid; it's full of ragged road , defiant rowdyism, and restless, rust-stained, , with plenty of its own charisma. ~ Thom Jurek