There is not one bad track on Plan B
By Snarky Gal
HLN Today reporter
I can't remember the last time I've been able to say that about any album in all sincerity. Some of the best records of the past couple years have had "dead spots" that make us stab at the fast forward buttons on our CD players. Not so with Plan B.
The 11 expertly-crafted songs on the album fully succeed in capturing the excitement of a live performance. Opening track "We're Not Here For A Long Time (We're Here For a Good Time)" is a case in point, going to church and getting the rock 'n' roll party started -- complete with audience cheers and whoops in the background. If not for the complete lack of musical missteps to be found therein, a casual listener could almost believe they were hearing a concert soundboard tape rather than a studio creation. This rousing start is followed by the clever finger-popping wordplay of "My Other Woman", in which perplexed Lothario Huey wryly laments his mistress's infidelity.
"I Ain't Perfect" is the album's personal high point for this reviewer. It's a midnight-deep, thrill-is-gone seduction of a woman who may think that she wants an ideal lover, but who ultimately needs something a little more flawed -- and a lot more real.
A near-faithful cover of the Rockpile classic "When I Write the Book" takes the callow lament of Nick "Jesus Of Cool" Lowe's protagonist, turns up the tempo a notch and gives it maturity and fullness courtesy of the intricately dense horns and backing vocals.
Wynonna adds her sultry grrrowl to Huey's trademark rasp for the gorgeous "I'm Not In Love Yet" -- which appears to be earmarked as a possible second single (if the sticker on the CD is any indication).
"Thank You #19" references every song bearing that particular sentiment for the last forty years and serves it up anew, enveloped in smoothly soulful, heavenly-blue minor-key harmonies.
The title track, which could easily be the theme song for the hippest late-night TV show not yet conceived, is a jazzy call-and-response with blistering solos from the horn section. Although The News' live audiences have been used to hearing extended versions of those solos for the past few years, the song is absolutely none the worse for the shorter, tighter arrangement.
"The Rhythm Ranch" raises the bar yet again with an infectious, deeply funky groove reminiscent of Little Feat -- all New Orleans heat, swagger and strut.
The first single, "Let Her Go and Start Over," grabs your attention with a resounding opening harmonica riff and a laid-back rootsiness akin to The Band's "The Weight" -- especially nostalgic when Sean Hopper's Garth Hudsonesque organ lines kick in.
"I Never Think About You" dives headfirst back into the blues with its post-breakup tale of a man who is completely unconvincing in his declaration of indifference to the event in question.
So Little Kindness, a re-recording of a song from Time Flies rounds out the album. In the new version, the horns are much more prominent and mesh better into the mix of the song. Also Huey positively nails the vocal. Huey really is selling the song - he sounds frustrated, angry, and sad at the events he is narrating. He makes us believe!
When some twitted The News for a perceived lack of songwriting prolificacy upon learning the final Plan B track list a few weeks ago, they were challenged to compose 10 similarly strong songs within a decade. It would be interesting to see who might be brave -- or foolhardy -- enough to pick up that gauntlet after July 24th.
Plan B will be available in stores July 24th. It can also be ordered on Amazon now.
