American Made

With the departure of Sam Llanas (half of The BoDeans' core), the band has become, in effect, the Kurt Neumann project. With the exception of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" (which here is given a moody, noir read), the songs are all written by Neumann. He's the only original member, with keyboardist Michael Ramos having served on and off over the years. The bluesy "Don't Bring Me Down" and the heartland folk-rocker "Everything You Wanted" can be heard as expressions of Neumann's frustration at his former bandmate, but the group has always been more about modest dreams than interpersonal squabbles. Lesser and greater bands have lost their brotherhood to the road and its trials. The band's pop elements have long been given second chair to a hearty emotionalism that makes songs like "All the World" and "Walk Through This World" favor a soulful strut over a young power-popper's dreams. Michael Ramos' accordion and Warren Hood's fiddle add nice rustic touches.