Cigarette Tricks: What to Download Tuesday: Shooter Jennings

For whatever reason (SXSW perhaps), it's an especially quiet week in new releases. It doesn't really matter, though, as my pick for album of the week is a solid one and it could easily have held its own on past Tuesdays when the new release lists were a little more filled out. Even before its release, we knew that Shooter Jennings' fifth studio album, Family Man, was going to be an interesting one simply in terms of how it would fit into his career trajectory. His last record, 2010's Black Ribbons, was on all counts an odd duck: a concept album about a governmental takeover of radio that proved to be just a little too overwrought in terms of its concept and execution. Musically, Black Ribbons saw Jennings abandoning his outlaw-country roots for what can best be described as a mash-up of southern and industrial rock. While it had its interesting moments, the record was, for the most part, unlistenable. Prior to Black Ribbons, though, Jennings had released three of the finest country records of the decade -- Put the "O" Back in Country (2005), Electric Rodeo (2006), and The Wolf (2007), a trilogy that left little doubt that Shooter was up to the challenge of taking over the family business.

And because he had become the best of hope in this new century for the style of country music that his father helped pioneer, there was some anxiety about whether he would return to the family business with the followup to Black Ribbons. Such anxieties were pretty much laid to rest when title for that album was announced late last summer. Family Man is indeed a return to the straight up outlaw-country/country-rock that we've come to associate with the Jennings name. If anything, it is the leanest, most polished, most radio friendly record that Shooter has produced. Even before Black Ribbons, Shooter's records (The Wolf especially) had contained a mishmash of styles, combining elements of country, southern rock, and radio-AOR. Family Man, by contrast, is straight-up outlaw country. With an equal balance of upbeat country-rockers and acoustic ballads (and one late-night honky-tonk barroom stomper, "The Family Tree), and lyrics that focus on themes of musical heritage, domesticity, and -- for good measure -- misbehaving, there's nothing on Family Man that would sound out of place on commercial country radio. Of course, commercial radio being what it is -- i.e., terrible -- this remains unlikely. Shooter's music continues to be too interesting, exuding too much authenticity and edge, to fit in with the stylized likes of Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney. But just because he doesn't get played on the radio doesn't mean he shouldn't. With Family Man Shooter has proven he can trim his excesses without sacrificing his creative edge. It might not be the best record of his career, but it's certainly his most thoughtful and accessible.

The full list of new releases is after the jump, but as I said it's a pretty slow week. Of the few standouts, though, be sure to check out old-school soul-man Lee Fields' Faithful Man -- especially his cover of the Stones' "Moonlight Mile." And British singer Holly Golightly -- whose voice you'll recognize from The White Stripes Elephant closer "It's True That We Love One Another" -- has a new record out with her band The Brokeoffs called Long Distance. Also, Pitchfork has just reviewed Phedre's self-titled debut, which actually came out February 14th, but it's a strange genre mash-up that is certainly worth taking a look at if you haven't already. And given that the weeks preceding this have been ridiculously abundant, this Tuesday's calm is a good opportunity to go back and really delve into some new releases from previous weeks that you may have missed. Links for the full lists of my picks are here, here and here.

Shooter Jennings, Family Man