Last of the Good Guys

The dawn of the 21st century brought a handful of bands mining mellow, harmonious country rock from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Not that Beachwood Sparks, The Thorns, Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum are throwbacks, but listen closely and you can hear hints of Buffalo Springfield, Gram Parsons, and early Linda Ronstadt in their songs. One Flew South's impressive three-part vocal harmonies hark back to the flawless inflections of Crosby, Stills and Nash but with modern production and a relevant radio-pop sensibility. Though if the sun-flared melodies on "She's A Gift" remind you more of The Eagles, it's probably because their songwriter J. D. Souther was impressed enough with One Flew South to help with some songwriting on their debut. "Let The Day Carry You" is another Souther-touched tune that overflows with hayseed harmonies, but "Makin' It Rain" sounds the most '70s with its banjo, cascading vocals and vintage guitars. With moody rhythms and an uplifting chorus, "My Kind Of Beautiful" is the album's first single, and it sounds like the kind of love song that Little Big Town would have penned. Hitmaker Marcus Hummon (Dixie Chicks, Rascal Flatts) wrote "Junkie" which could be the most haunting cut here.