The
Wood Brothers
are hard to pin down -- they play a sort of Americana version of jazz, or country with an edge, or folk with some rhythmic bite, or maybe secular gospel with a touch of swing. At their best, they create the best blend of vernacular American roots music since
the Band
folded, and while there are a lot of neo-Americana bands out there who critics keep claiming sound like
, well, these guys actually do. The
Buddy Miller
-produced
The Muse
is their fourth album, and while the previous three releases were pretty darn great, this one is arguably even better, a step forward into a fuller, rounder, and more complete sound, anchored, as always, by
Chris Wood
's wonderful acoustic basslines (his day job is playing bass for
Medeski, Martin & Wood
) and
Oliver Wood
's backwoods vocal style and sharp, literate songwriting skills. This album is a gem, opening with the best song yet by
that wasn't written or recorded by
, "Wastin' My Mind," and continuing the feel with "Neon Tombstone," "Honey Jar," "Sweet Maria" (a bit of folk cabaret, really), the barroom ballad shuffle "I Got Loaded," and the set closer, "Firewater," which comes complete with a boozy horn section that makes it sound like an outtake from
's
Rock of Ages
. The
aren't the second coming of
, of course (such a thing will most likely never happen), but they draw on the same wellspring of blues, gospel, folk, country, and R&B to arrive in a similar place, suggesting a rural America where myths are born and made real with music, a place where current fashion is useless, a place where a trip to the local juke for some backwoods jazzy honky tonk gospel blues is nigh near a trip to Heaven. ~ Steve Leggett