Latest releases reviewed

DERYL DODD Stronger Proof Dualtone ***

With a name like Deryl Dodd, you just know he has to be a $%!-kickin' honky tonk star with a story to tell. And he has. About 10 years ago Dodd was flying high in Nashville, an in-demand guitarist with his own major label record contract. Then it started to unravel. Divorce, the wild life, label rejection and finally serious illness laid him low before he returned to his native Texas and picked up the pieces. This is his comeback album, and when it's good it's very good. Tracks like opener Never Again pulse with the Bakersfield sound, as does the title song and the shuffling More of the Same. Elsewhere Dodd's touch is just a mite more dodgy, sounding like a cross between a southern bar band and the Nashville smoothie he once was. As an album it would make a great EP. www.deryldodd.com

Joe Breen