The Search (Deluxe Version)

Jay Farrar “reformed” Son Volt after several solo outings, and those quotes are appropriate first and foremost because, Farrar aside, there isn’t an original member to be found. Three of the four gentlemen here also recorded the last Son Volt album, 2005’s Okemah and the Melody of Riot, so perhaps a new consistency is forming. It would be welcomed, since left to his own devices, Farrar too often becomes hypnotized by the sound of his own open tunings and loses the song in the process. Here, working with a functioning rhythm section that can kick it up a gear means tunes such as “Satellite,” “Automatic Society“ and the title track fall neatly into Rolling Stones-post Exile on Main Street guitar-heavy country-rock, and stay focused on delivering the cathartic payoff. “The Picture” with its Stax-like horns climax, and “Methamphetamine” with its majestic pedal steel overriding the acoustic guitars and thick harmonies, make for the album’s most realized tunes. Though it’s Farrar’s lonesome streak that fuels his vocal appeal, it’s his convivial relationship with his fellow bandmates that translate his ideas into greatness.