ROOTS

Latest releases reviewed.

SON VOLT Okemah and the Melody of Riot  Legacy Records  ****

Seven years after their last album, Son Volt rise from the ashes to produce a snarling overview of "Junior's" US. Well, not so much Son Volt - more leader, singer, guitarist and songwriter Jay Farrar who has recruited three new members for his band's second coming. But it's business as usual. Anyone who wisely picked up the band's recent retrospective on Rhino Records will confirm that there are no joins showing as Farrar and new boys (including Ryan Adams's former guitarist Brad Rice) punch hard, loud and clean. The title refers to Woody Guthrie's birthplace and the folk legend is clearly Farrar's inspiration for a collection of songs that is both meaty and thoughtful. Bandages and Scars, Jet Pilot and the memorable ringing riffs of Who are just some of the highlights of an album that demands to be turned up loud. www.sonvolt.net

Joe Breen

RICHARD THOMPSON Front Parlour Ballads Cooking Vinyl Records ****

I know some people whose concept of heaven is a Richard Thompson solo acoustic album. Unfortunately, this collection of his own very English and very distinctive songs - his first acoustic set since 1981 - involves a bit of purgatory as well. Thompson is a giant of popular music, both as a songwriter and as a guitarist. There is no one like him. His songs betray rich and disparate influences - from British traditonal ballads to the Middle East, to Memphis and back to English music hall - while his lyrics vary from evocative tenderness to almost medieval bitterness and savage social commentary. All of these qualities are in abundance here, embellished with elegant guitar. But some songs, such as Precious One, seem a little forced while, good as his playing is, the arrangements are occasionally too skeletal. Against that, many of these songs (such as Old Thames Side, Let it Blow, When We Were Boys at School and Mutton Street) are destined to become treasured additions to his awesome catalogue. www.richardthompson-music.com

Joe Breen