Cole Deggs & the Lonesome

Cole Deggs & The Lonesome take a whack at updating the spirit of ‘70s Southern Rock on their 2007 self-titled debut album and succeed better than most. Deggs’ bandmates — including Cole’s brother Shade on bass — play with admirable looseness and muscle, adding nicely ragged vocal harmonies on key choruses. Throughout, guitarist David Wallace lays down searing riffage that recalls the rougher side of the Eagles. The group generates heat on their upbeat tunes, praising loose-living goddesses in “Girl Next Door,” damning fickle lovers in “Makin’ Nothing Out of Something” and wallowing in Texas-sized heartache in “I Haven’t Stopped Hurtin.’” A touch of Muscle Shoals-style R&B (aided by the Wurlitzer piano of Allman Brothers veteran Chuck Leavell) adds extra sizzle to “Twelve Ounces Deep” and “Everybody’s Beautiful to Someone.” Songs like “Out of Alabama” and “Huggin’ This Blacktop” are vivid snapshots from the Southern hinterlands. Less crusty than Van Zant, more credible than Whiskey Falls, Cole Deggs & The Lonesome do right by their rebel heritage on their first release.