Five new albums this week, with Todd Snider getting the highest marks.
Wyatt Flores
Life Lessons
An early verse in the “Zach Bryan begat…” chapters, but Flores is a better singer with a mastery of more varied song structures. A raw-nerved account of a young man trying to figure out the heavy stuff, aware of how he’ll be judged for his missteps. Promising.
Cody Johnson
Leather
As thoughtfully curated a set of songs as you’ll find on a mainstream county album, all built on clever, surprising wordplays and a rugged POV. This is Cody Johnson’s best to date and a standout in an awfully strong year.
Dolly Parton
Rockstar
No one ever accused her of having consistently good taste. She’s having fun with this, sure, but the covers are too often little more than glorified karaoke, and the originals are too often little more than fine.
Jaime Wyatt
Feel Good
The rare throwback-styled album that actually sounds like a vinyl unearthed from the late 60s. Wyatt writes and sings country songs, but the vibe here is a mix of vintage Cher singles and “Windmills of Your Mind” from Dusty in Memphis: Cosmic, retro country-rock and southern soul.
Todd Snider
Crank It, We’re Doomed
Some of these killer tracks were repurposed over the years, but they work as well or better in context of this unreleased 2007 album. What would’ve been timely 16 years ago is no less of a precision-crafted, tightly-wound doomsday clock today.
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