Giant Sand – Blurry Blue Mountain

It’s been a common saying that most parents hope their progeny grow up to be more successful than they were. If that applies to godparents then Arizona's Giant Sand, whose creative force Howe Gelb has been dubbed the Godfather of Alt Country by The Sun (that compendium of fun facts) must be happy as hell, because there’s certainly a slew of bands in that genre doing things more exciting than Blurry Blue Mountain. Wilco, Micah P Hinson, Drive-By Truckers – take your pick.

There are three tracks on this LP that genuinely engage this listener, so let’s stick to those: Lucky Star Love, where Gelb and a female guest trade verses over two too-short minutes of a loveable piano lick; Thin Line Man, which cranks up a Nick Cave affectation to 10; then the near-Creedence of New Swamp Thing. The rest sounds a lot like a guy reading so-so poetry in an unconvincing voice over sleepy southwestern background music, making for a slightly unfocused stramash. [Jason Morton]