Under the direction of
Don Was
,
Travis Tritt
turns in one of his leanest and easily his grittiest
country
record yet with
Restless Kind
. Cutting back the
country-rock
flourishes that have always distinguished his sound,
Tritt
opts for twangy guitars, wailing fiddles, dobros, and unaffected guts vocals. Mirroring the stripped-down instrumentation, the song selection is straight-ahead
honky tonk
rockabilly
and
traditional country
.
benefits immeasurably from this approach -- he has never sounded so alive. Actually, he has never sounded so purely
. ~ Thom Owens