Quick Hits, Vol. 137 (Son Volt, Nikki Lane, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Rick Ross)

Son Volt - Notes of Blue.  Son Volt is like a comfortable old pair of boots, where you know that your foot is going to fit right back into its same indention and everything is going to feel good and right.  "Tear Stained Eye" is still my favorite tune of theirs, and 1997's Straightaways is my favorite album.  For those of you who don't know them at all, they are alt. country pioneers that came from the breakup of Uncle Tupelo (as did Wilco).  This album stays true to the good old sound of prior albums, some strummy, quiet tunes, some crunchy rockers, all presided over by Jay Farrar's slightly nasal vocals. The top track from the album is one of the latter, aiming more for blues rock than the singer/ songwriter style.  Here is "Sinking Down," which has 420k streams right now.

"Soon it will be my time, must atone for the women and the wine."  Wait, is that a thing?  We don't really have to atone for women or wine, do we?  Good track.  "Lost Souls" goes even harder with the bluesy rock crunch.  If you want the more chilled side, start with the first two songs of the album, "Promise the World" and "Back Against the Wall."  It is a good album though, worthy of more listens, so I'll stick it into my keeper playlist.

Nikki Lane - Highway Queen.  Another ACL alum, who makes a classic, throwback country sound that only sounds current because of the lyrics.  Such as the album opener, "700,000 Rednecks," which sings about the travails of reaching the top of the music business.  But the title track is an even more badass tune about travelling the road for the musical muse.

You'd think that this was a theme for the album, but no, the rest of the album isn't entirely songs about making it in the record biz.  I like her throwback voice, and her backing band is great.  That being said, nothing on the album really grabbed me after a few listens, it goes down very easy, and I think it'd be a good album for background party music or something, but I wouldn't go buy it.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Got Soul.  I used to mentally give this guy shit, being that it seemed like a weird thing to be the world's greatest pedal steel guitar shred master.  But after listening more and watching some live videos, I get it.  He mixes in blues and soul and funk and a jam band mentality to create opportunities for people to showcase during each song, and its pretty damn fun.  High energy stuff that I bet would really be a blast to see in person.  The top track from the album so far is called "Shake It," which boasts 847k streams.

Live version with only 147 views, but you get the idea, energetic blast with some sweet pedal steel solo action that you won't find in many other bands.  He also has a track with Hootie doing the singing ("Love Do What It Do"), and it matches pretty solidly into the southern swamp jam.  They also turn ZZ Top's "I Thank You" into a voodoo zoo, and its pretty fun.  Some of the tunes are kind of cheesy, in a way that I'm realizing much of the jam band scene is OK with, tunes like "Be the Change," that exhorts you to be the change in the world.  Another one where I have fully enjoyed listening to the album, but I doubt I'd keep it around for more listens. I really would like to see these guys live though.

Rick Ross - Rather You Than Me.  I remember when I thought that Rick Ross was pretty boss.  I guess that was with some of the songs on 2010's Teflon Don, like "BMF" or "MC Hammer."  But since then he's put out an album a year or so, and 98% of that has been really weak raps.  He somehow gets Chris Rock to come on the album and proclaim "Lord as my witness, there's not a better MC than Rick Muthafuckin' Ross."  I liked Chris Rock better when he was giving his legit top five in his movie Top Five.  And that list did not include Ricky Rose.  This stuff is just as forgettable and jenky as his last few albums.  The top song is the repetitively annoying "Trap Trap Trap," which not surprisingly says the word "Trap" as many times as it has listens on Spotify (18.7 million).

The beat is hot stuff - makes me want to bump this in my sweet classic car convertible - but the raps are limp as hell.  Maybe the Wale verse is good, but the other two are weak for sure.  I won't keep any of this album around.