Scroll down for capsule reviews of releases by Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell, Various Artists – The Bottle Let Me Down – Songs For Bumpy Wagon Rides, Cato Salsa Experience, Ash, The Fall, Dolly Parton, Kingfly, Watershed and Sean Altman

Guided By Voices – Universal Truths And Cycles (Matador): Considered by some a return to old form, based solely on the fact that Robert Pollard brings back those mini-songs. Whatever. Size is unimportant – what is important is the band has not abandoned the high quality studio, which gives the songs the majestic presentation they deserve. Pollard continues to pen impenetrable anthems and Doug Gillard continues to be a guitar god. No offense to prior GBV lineups, but Gillard is Pollard's Mick Ronson, the hired gun whose playing takes the sounds inside Pollard's head and makes them real and rocking. Guided By Voices is the Bizzarro World version of The Who, intent on conquering the world one song at a time. Whether it's the ecstatic "Cheyenne", which has a scale that verges on Spectorian, the Townshendian drama of "Wings of Thorn" or the relative (near five minute) epic "Storm Vibrations", Guided By Voices have mastered their musical vocabulary, investing each song with equal amounts of emotion and craft. While they might not surprise anymore, their amazing ability to consistently deliver the goods is laudable. This is a very good Guided By Voices record, which, to me, constitutes a ringing endorsement. matadorrecords.com

Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell – Woodshedding (Parasol): This is Americana, not "Americana", if you get my drift. Simple songs with folk, country and blues bases and splendid narrative lyrics. Logan and Kimbell don't harmonize enough, as evidenced by "The Only Son", a tale of an orphan who appears to have more problems than simply losing his parents. Their sleepy but intent vocals (with an assist from Mike Lane of The Possibilities) are understated and add to poignancy of the song. John Neff's pedal steel is simply wonderful on this track. One track has a bit of the lounge loser vibe you sometimes hear on Mark Eitzel records ("Just as You Are"), and a weepiness so palpable you can smell the booze and cigarette smoke. A couple songs have a nice rock edge that would make them ripe for a cover by Bonnie Raitt or Boz Scaggs, such as "Legs and Brains" and "Ripped it Away". There's even some humor on the sitting on the porch twang number "I Still Miss Her Dog" (but he certainly doesn't miss her, you know what I mean?). The best track might be the pithy "Navigator Type", a lilting number with vaguely tropical verses that melt into a tender chorus that simply fades out. Just a swell disc. parasol.com

Various Artists – The Bottle Let Me Down – Songs For Bumpy Wagon Rides (Bloodshot): The first kiddie-pop foray from the original insurgent country label is splendid compilation of classic and original children's songs. Some of the songs are pure twang, but there's some swell western swing and basic folk. Amongst the originals are two songs that seemed destined for Dr. Demento's Funny Five – Robbie Fulks (based on an idea from his wife) reaches maximum absurdity on the twinky "Godfrey", the story of a "sickly unemployed amateur children's magician". The Cornell Hurd Band provides perhaps the best advice on the record with "Don't Wipe Your Face on Your Shirt", which is in the tradition of jazzy twangers like Tex Williams. Frisbie's Steve Frisbie composes the most contemporary new original, "Cheese, Peas, Pickles & Bananas", and teams with Nora O'Connor (ex-The Blacks, Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire), on what is a surefire sing-a-long for the kindergarten set. On the classics side, Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys stay true to their sad selves, delicately taking on "It's Not Easy Being Green". Jane Baxter Miller just has so much fun with "On Top of Spaghetti", with a great hillbilly vocal and squeeze box accompaniment. And the always wonderful Kelly Hogan hits two oldies – "Rubber Duckie", which she gives a smoky chanteuse feel to, and the demented "Senor El Gato", which has the appropriate Euro-feel. Alejandro Escovedo, Devil in a Woodpile, The Handsome Family, Rosie Flores, Freakwater and Waco Brothers also score with their contributions. bloodshotrecords.com

Cato Salsa Experience – A Good Tip For A Good Time (Emperor Norton): More tales from the new garage front. CSE favors a blues approach that is akin to many Estrus Records acts, though not nearly so dirty, and also favors the frenzy of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, though not quite so frenzied. So the Experience never sounds bad and are certainly party worthy. "Listen to Me Daddy-O" is a funky instrumental that smacks strongly of a gussied up and slick JSBE, and is all the better for it. The rhythm section plays crisply throughout and the record avoids any plodding, efficiently working from one track to the next. Unfortunately, the quality of the sound is not equaled by the quality of the songs. Too often they take one decent idea and just ride it out. They need to follow the lead of "I Can Give You Anything", where the chorus isn't just a slight variation on the primary riff (there's a melody - gasp!) and the instrumental section takes a left turn into garage-lounge territory. That track also has nice vocal, very low key, in contrast to so many faux soul shouters populating the new garage scene. Cato Salsa Experience is at the above-average opening act level now. Will they grow or fizzle? emperornorton.com

Ash – Free All Angels (Kinetic): This Brit hit from 2001 is not out in the States. While not covering the same territory musically, the punkier and cheekier Ash is reminiscent of Supergrass in that both bands demonstrate a deep knowledge of great rock from the past and use a broad array of influences to create pop-rock songs that retain a classic feel put are clearly modern creations. This is their third disc and they have attained a consistency lacking on earlier efforts. This album mixes spunky tunes with great mid-tempo tracks that show off their ability to pen strong melodies. "Shining Light" is a key track – it has the scope of declaratory ballad, revealing a big, big love. Tim Wheeler and crew avoid bombast (Oasis, anyone?), so the song conveys large, swoony romantic notions, yet remains human and all the more touching. They save a wee bit of puffery for "Someday", but by track 7 they've earned the right to be large. Of course, Ash is also one of the best high energy hook fiend bands since The Undertones and nothing on this disc fails to diminish that reputation, as there are four or five songs that sound like classic singles. The signs of continuing growth are all over the place – the synthesized strings and spare arrangement on "Candy" (shades of Neil Finn); the real strings on "There's a Star"; the semi-funk grind on "Submission", a danceworthy track. The U.S. edition of the disc has bonus tracks and a bonus DVD. These truly are bonuses, since the basic 13 track album is pretty essential. kineticrecords.com

The Fall – 2G + 2 (Action): A chronicle of last year's brief jaunt through America. The latest edition of musicians backing Mark E. Smith attack his tunes with considerable gusto, at times speeding up the tempo considerably. Most of the songs are from recent releases, but the guys playing here have only played on the last record. They literally attack a lot of the older material. The opener "The Joke" moves breathlessly, with Smith managing to maintain the faster pace. "Mr. Pharmacist" sounds like Purgatory's bar band in action. The constant is the repetitive blues-based songwriting which establishes a pattern -- it's catchy in such a unique way. With Smith's cranky persona up front, they can get away with two songs that are nearly identical musically, "My Ex-classmates Kids", which has a chorus, and "I Wake Up In The City", which doesn't, but incorporates found sounds. Adding to the strangeness of this decently but not spectacularly recorded live record is the near absence of crowd noise. This insularity just adds to the bizarre feel of the record, which is otherwise clearly live. This is particularly true on the less rocking tunes -- the trick reggae "Distilled Mug Art" and the poem with light accompaniment that is "Enigrmmatic Dream". Compelling but not essential. action-records.com

Dolly Parton – Halos & Horns (Sugar Hill): Part 3 of Dolly Parton's return to form is another impressive country/bluegrass effort. She's a great songwriter and still has one of the most unique and angelic voices on the planet. Moreover, her obvious joy at doing what she loves best comes out of the speakers at almost every moment. She beguiles with story songs – taking on the persona of crotchety psychic in "These Old Bones" and telling the tale of a young preacher in "John Daniel". Further explorations of the heart and soul take place on the classically compose "Halos and Horns" and "Hello God" -- the latter track is on par lyrically with Johnny Cash's best spiritual quests, because it's not empty proclamation but a real examination of a woman's faith. And she rouses with her vigor on songs like the banjo driven reel "I'm Gone" ("but you'd rather live unhappy and tolerate the pain/than separate and have me takin' half of everything" -- great line). Her two cover choices are intriguing. She adds just a bit of twang on a splendid version of Bread's "If". As for Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" -- this will divide folks. I can't help but like it. Hearing Parton's vibrato, like a babbling brook, shimmering in the sun, makes everything seem alright. sugarhillrecords.com

Kingfly – Elevatorup (dingply): Pleasant power pop from New York band that goes for a clean sound in the vein of Gin Blossoms and The Supers. In fact, some of their material is not that far removed from the less new wavey bands of the skinny tie era. Their songs are always listenable, though only a handful stand out. Some of this might be due to production that seems to hamper, rather than coax, the ability to get an optimum performance. Since group members Anand Gan and Doug Davis share the production duties, a pair of outside ears might help. For example, a solid rocker like "All the Roads" is not as emphatic as it could be. There seems to be more of an emphasis on precise performances, which damps down songs that deserve more verve. That being said, things work well on "Oh No", which has a quasi-Cheap Trick hook and a good use of distortion on the vocals in the verses (didn't say the production was awful – just not as good as necessary) -- and a real cool solo – not sure if it's a keyboard or a guitar run through some odd effects, but it adds color. "Sorry" brings you in on a riff and then drops down to vocals and drums (Gan has a nice sound on the skins), brings the other instruments back in and has a nifty hook with the vocals ascending on the melody, while the rhythm guitar goes in a bit different direction. Hard to describe in writing, but it's quite clever. These guys just need to grip it and rip it next time around. Betcha they are swell live. kingfly.net

Watershed – The More It Hurts, The More It Works (Carney/Idol): The first song on this disc comes across as darned good punk-pop, but it is not representative of this stalwart group. Melodic hard pop with nods to Cheap Trick and emo rubs shoulders with good old fashioned working class bar bands – by which I mean great outfits from the Iron City Houserockers and the more Springsteeny side of Marah. This is the essence of rock and roll as the release after a day fixing engines, running deliveries or anything else that gets you dirty and in need of a shot and a beer after the whistle blows. Some songs just shine with joy ("Can't Be Myself" is a prime example) while others are gritty and sometimes witty. "Wallflower Child" has a mild foot stomping beat to go with mild acoustic guitars on laid back giggler of a tune. "I've Been Looking Everywhere" is big hand-waving finale, with fake crowd noise, that they segue into a version of Springsteen's "Born to Run" that they mold quite well into their sound. The best tune is "New Life", with bitter verses leavened by insistent yearning choruses – love has fucked this guy over and he desperately wants a fresh start. Not only is the tune strong, but the band's arrangement and production choices are inspired. This is the stuff Midwestern cult legends are made of. idol-records.com

Sean Altman – alt.mania (Chow Fun): Who put the benzedrine in Sean's Ovaltine? Oops, wrong beverage – Altman is part of the creative sans instruments band Rockappella, who pitched Folger's Coffee a few years ago. This solo disc is energized and show offy. There is plenty of zippy power pop, and reminiscent of Jellyfish, Altman tucks in some R & B influences ("Daisy Simone"), and much more successfully. Altman is a true stylist and from an execution standpoint, this record is flawless. There are times where I find it too precious and/or pristine for my tastes. But I can't deny his craftsmanship – he knows how to write a song and there are hooks aplenty. However, a little of this is enough for me. When I hear "Too Old & Too Ugly" and a few other tracks, I think I foresee Altman's destiny: the first all power pop Broadway musical, because he manages to give a lot of these songs the veneer of show tunes. seanaltman.com

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