Now that have become a productive cottage industry thanks to the good people at (namely the band itself), frontman has given us his second solo album in as many years with 2005's . Like his previous solo disc , is dominated by covers, though wrote a whopping four new songs for this set (double his output for ), and since this album boasts a significantly lower goofiness quotient than his previous go-round, he offers us some solid and literate tunes, including the ode to touring and a rueful look back at a busted romance, is in the tradition of ' periodic visits to the land of twang, with even the and covers boasting a semi-acoustic sawdust-on-the-floor vibe, and his band (anchored by guitarist ) kicks up a satisfying amount of dust, even with the amps turned down. While unwittingly reveals how narrow his vocal range can be on a couple of tunes, he makes with the attitude when he needs to and sounds like he means it when he wants to, and his versions of 's show the guy is a better interpretive singer than one might expect. Oh, and if you were looking for a straight-up joke, check out the revision on track 11. is hardly revelatory, but it sounds like and his pals enjoyed their four days in the studio, and the good vibe is infectious -- lots of guys have tried a whole lot harder without coming up with a record half as enjoyable as this. ~ Mark Deming