Comal County Blue

iTunes Review

With his throaty baritone drawl and a penchant for writing catchy songs deeply inspired by 1970s outlaw country, Jason Boland will inevitably garner many a comparison to the late Waylon Jennings. But he and his band the Stragglers bring more to the table than retro twang on Comal County Blue, their 5th studio album. The pensive "Something You Don't See Everyday" touches on relevant social commentary and takes witty jabs at the U.S. occupation of Iraq with lyrics like, "Poor boys doing rich men's evil business/ They don't realize they're blowing up a hearse." And on the opening cut "Sons And Daughters Of Dixie" Boland lambastes the people in power who didn't do anything in Hurricane Katrina's wake ("Those who turned a blind eye will answer for their sins"), while simultaneously praising the residents of New Orleans and Mississippi for surviving and reshaping their communities ("One thing a southern man knows how to do is to rebuild"). Things get a bit more romantic on the title track with wistful small town sentiment set to a slow burning country ballad drenched in weepy pedal steel notes and acoustic guitars. Boland may not specialize in narratives, but his lyrics do paint vivid imagery.