Even though the opening track "Nashville Moon" hints at modern country, don't let the Texas Sapphires fool ya into thinking they've sold out. They certainly haven't, and in the end, the song's protagonist realizes that he'll never be Nash big either and hangs himself with his own guitar strings while "Satan laughs on his fiddle."

The second studio full-length from siblings Billy Brent Malkus and Rebecca Lucille Cannon is too honky tonk smart for the Music City's generic brand of ear pop candy, especially given Malkus' knack for knocking out good lines. He still prefers themes of misfits and miscreants attempting normalcy but doing so under an alcohol-filled cloud of disillusionment, disappointment and self-deception ("190").

"How Did I Get So Sloppy Drunk (When I Was Drinkin' Neat)" is probably the best boozin' song to belly up lately; "Stunt Double" is clever in its own right - use a stunt double to take life's tough knocks just as Lee Majors did in the Six Million Dollar Man. As solid of songwriter as Malkus is, it's sister Cannon who lands the heaviest track with the haunting weeper "Teardrops or Rain." Set to a gorgeous melody, here the dearly departed returns for one last goodbye, telling her loved one to move on and live life without her.


Dan Willging is a contributing writer to FolkWax. He can be reached at www.folkwax@visnat.com