Ray Wylie Hubbard: Growl

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Kerosene-cured vocals and a gnarly guitar propel the sometimes menacing lyrics of this Austin singer-songwriter who seems to have fought the same demons as the late Townes Van Zandt (in a more rock'n'roll, bluesy context). Here, again, his songs enjoy the attention of friend and fellow traveller, guitarist/producer Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams, Tom Russell).

Hubbard carves a musically wayward path through dark Southern blues (Purgatory Road which sounds like the spirit of Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billy Joe filtered through James McMurtry), there's backdoor slide (Bones) and heretical brooding (Preacher), white-boy rural blues (Rooster) and cynical bar-shaking pop-rock (Rock-n-Roll is a Vicious Game which sails a little too close to a dirt-floor Dire Straits).

Hubbard is a survivor with half a dozen albums behind him and this stripped-back, rough-hewn outing shows he's not only getting better but ain't gonna change his gritty style for no man. Good.

Label: Elite