Fans of
Rascal Flatts
and other slick, harmony-heavy country groups will find much to enjoy about
the Eli Young Band
, whose songs borrow from
rock
and
pop
without ever fully entering either camp. The flagship track on this major-label debut is
"When It Rains,"
a holdover from the band's independent release in 2005. Like the other 11 songs on
Jet Black & Jealous
, the revamped version of
"When It Rains"
gleams with commercial sheen, from its polished vocals to the crisp mix of banjo, pedal steel, and electric guitar. But there's also a fiery quality to the song, whose twang is balanced by Nashville-gothic lyrics ("It's good to see the world in pain when I take a walk outside") and
rock & roll
guitars. Moments like that are the best part about
. This isn't
country
music in the tractor-driving, American flag-waving sense; it's country music with
production and
muscle, and the album sounds its strongest whenever it's occupying the three-way intersection between those genres.
"Radio"
is tailor-made for its titular medium,
"Always the Love Songs"
borrows an intro from
the Wallflowers
'
"6th Avenue Heartache,"
"Throw and Go"
is a dark, dangerous
song dressed up in cowboys' clothing.
thrives on that sort of contrast, and
's official debut is promising indeed. ~ Andrew Leahey