Triple Play: Steve Holy - Brand New Girlfriend

Nashville singer-songwriter Steve Holy's third album maintains the standards set by his first two: mainstream country-pop with a strong hint of '50s rock & roll influence, especially in the vocals. On ballads like "Baby Don't Go," Holy slips easily into a Roy Orbison-style falsetto, but his heart belongs to roadhouse country and rockabilly. This is best evidenced by the first single and title track, which starts with an overly dramatic, tongue in cheek spoken word intro that quickly devolves into a raucous country-rock stomp with a Big & Rich-style beat. Songs like "Men Buy the Drinks (Women Call the Shots)" and the straight-up rockabilly of "Hurry Up" continue the good-timey feel, while ballads like "Only the Lonely Talking" edge into Chris Isaak's retro territory. One of the rare contemporary Nashville country artists with a clear fondness for early rock & roll, Steve Holy smartly fuses the two styles into something refreshingly new., Rovi