It's tough to fault for basically making the same album over again, since each has at least a handful of hummable rockers as good as his fluke, lighter-raising hit, Falling between 's bar-brand strum and a more aggressive , 's honest, sand/honey vocals, along with his knack for a hook, keep this release alive. The material is hit-and-miss, with the and gospelly tracks -- like -- undoubtedly the strong points and the trashy rockers sounding forced and stiff. The poppy strays into jazzy territory and gives some room for 's under-utilized sax player, , to open up. missteps on the punky which sounds like lukewarm and sticks out uncomfortably in a disc that should be content to wallow in slow-dance smooch songs like and the latter of which adds a string section to further tug at the wedding slow-dance crowd. Even a twang rocker like has hit-single potential in a sort of way, sporting a memorably melodic chorus that rhymes "rise," "skies," and "eyes" so simplistically you're almost ashamed to sing along with it. But sing along you will, which makes a better-than-average strum-rocker with a talent for churning out an album like once every few years. No apologies are needed as long as he stays fixed on his strengths and leaves the to more competent bands. ~ Hal Horowitz