Tony Joe White: Snakey

Reviewed by GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating * * )

The problem with being distinctive and singular in your art is that you are ripe for parody - and ultimately self-parody. Anyone with an acoustic guitar and whiny voice can sing about cowgirls in a pick-up truck and sound exactly like Neil Young.

When an artist has a long career, it is almost inevitable they sound exactly like themselves and there is audience burn-out. How many more same-same albums by Meat Loaf or Oasis could you take? (Gee, Oasis had barely started and No Way Sis was out there with a parody single.)

And so it is with Tony Joe White who defined swamp rock and bayou blues about 30 years ago. He wrote Polk Salad Annie, which Elvis covered, and Tina Turner took Steamy Windows to great fame. White has done some remarkable albums, but that was a while ago and aside from the occasional standout tracks his albums have seen diminishing returns. His Snakey (Shock) typically features his still spectacular guitar work (all sinuous and dirty, nifty wah wah and fades) but the songs are shallow vessels and sound instantly familiar. White carved his own path, but a deep path is sometimes called a rut.