Mr. Good Times

Album Review

Everett might have stayed in Nashville and had a fine career as a country singer, but luckily, his major label dropped him just before HBO's True Blood used his "Bad Things" as its theme song. That exposure jump started his career as an independent artist and gave him a large enough fan base for him to go his own artistic way. "The Drugs Aren't Getting It Done" is an ominous, stomping rocker that's surprisingly lighthearted despite the dark subject matter. "God Made You Mean" has a midtempo groove, a vocal that sounds like Chris Isaak on belladonna, and tough, dissonant guitar work. "Don't Look Down" is a morose meditation on the pain and confusion at the end of a relationship featuring a quiet, somber vocal; "Tricky Thing" is a grinding, gospel-flavored rocker, while "Angry, Hostile, Ugly" is a swaggering blues that brings to mind Howlin' Wolf at his most treacherous. Everett's vocal here is diabolical, full of menace and aggravation. Mr. Good Times does have a couple of tunes that might find their way onto progressive country stations. "Let's Begin Again" is a love ballad with Dan Cohen's slide guitar mimicking the sound of pedal steel and an erotic growling vocal from Everett and the slow two-steppin' "Good Times," although its ironic lyric might be a stretch for the average country music fan. But most of the album features the dark, bluesy, metallic swamp rock sound of his signature hit. ~ j. poet, Rovi