DISClaimer 4/14/10

It’s a back-to-basics week.

In a surprising and refreshing listening session, we were served a heaping helping of honest country sounds. Alan Jackson, Miss Leslie, Easton Corbin and Laura Dodd all turned in excellent efforts with nary a pop note in the bunch.

The Zac Brown Band album continues to delight and amaze. It has yielded yet another perfectly performed radio tune. The sunny sonics of “Free” make it the Disc of the Day.

I know I’m a little late in getting around to the charming “Giddy On Up,” by Laura Bell Bundy. But that doesn’t make her any less deserving of a DisCovery Award. Her Achin’ and Shakin’ album dropped yesterday, and she’s performing on the ACM show on Sunday.

STEVE LEE/I Like Guns
Writer: Steve Lee; Producer: Bill Chambers; Publisher: Control, no performance rights listed; Revolver (track)
—What we have here is an album composed entirely of songs about guns (“Pistol in My Hand,” “Time to Get a Gun,” “The Shoot Out” and so on). Its title tune is a monotonous, two-chord outing whose poetic reach is completely summed up in its three-word and oft-repeated title.

THE NEW RELICS/Real Love
Writer: M. Arbogast/J. Swiger/B. Martin/J. Bidwell; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Blues Alley (www.thenewrelics.com)
—Bopping, romantic, buoyant and light-hearted.

EASTON CORBIN/Roll With It
Writer: Tony Lane/David Lee/Johnny Park; Producer: Carson Chamberlain; Publisher: Sony-ATV/Hornebuckle/Universal Careers/WB, ASCAP/BMI; Mercury (track)
—The follow-up to the overnight-success “A Little More Country Than That” is another winner. I like this guy’s effortlessly Southern vocal phrasing and unabashed delight in country simplicity. The song’s everyday language and hook-filled melody are both huge bonuses. I’m in.

STEVE PALMER BAND/Living On The Streets
Writer: Steve Palmer; Producer: Steve Palmer Band & David Huff; Publisher: Kaynat, ASCAP; Arythmia (www.stevepalmerband.com)
—Pretentious and way too wordy.

ALAN JACKSON/Hard Hat And A Hammer
Writer: Alan Jackson; Producer: Keith Stegall; Publisher: Tri-Angels/EMI April, ASCAP; Arista (track)
—Thank the Lord for this man. No one else in contemporary country music has sung so consistently and sympathetically about the working class. This catchy toe-tapper pushes all my country-music buttons.

MISHAVONNA/Country Thing
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Redrum (track)
—It might be titled a “country thing,” but there is absolutely nothing country about its rocking track.

LAURA BELL BUNDY/Giddy On Up
Writer: Laura Bell Bundy/Jeff Cohen/Mike Shimshack; Producer: Mike Shimshack; Publisher: EMI April/If I Had a Nickel/As You Wish/Bug/Arthouse Entertainment/Music of Stage Three/Shimshack Songs, ASCAP/BMI; Mercury (track)
—This highly personable Broadway baby’s CD is divided into “Achin’” and “Shakin’” sections of six tunes apiece. The latter section kicks off with this sprightly, feisty little dance ditty. Its pretty darn irresistible. Get up and shake that thing.

LAURA DODD/Songbird
Writer: Laura Dodd; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Laura Dodd, BMI; Laura Dodd (track) (www.lauradodd.com)
—The simple piano accompaniment puts the spotlight where it belongs, on her beautiful, assured vocal and the ballad’s lovely structure. A breath of fresh air.

ZAC BROWN BAND/Free
Writer: Zac Brown; Producer: Keith Stegall & Zac Brown; Publisher: Weimerhound, BMI; Atlantic (track)
—The fifth single from this group’s stunning debut album, The Foundation, is its most lushly melodic outing yet. The sound of summer love, complete with lilting harmonies and swirling strings, organ and guitars.

MISS LESLIE/Wrong Is What I Do Best
Writer: Leslie Anne Sloan; Producer: Tommy Dettamore, Leslie Sloan & Ricky Davis; Publisher: Zero Label, BMI; Zero Label (track) (www.missleslie.com)
—Hear that? Do you know what it is? They call it country music. The title tune to this Texas woman’s latest is a swinging triumph, soaked in fiddle and steel. She writes ‘em. She sings ‘em. She plays a mean fiddle. She co-produces. I remain an enormous fan.