Myth America

Like many '70s survivors, Walter Egan faded away from the spotlight but he never stopped working. New albums came throughout the new millennium, but 2014's Myth America is the most ambitious album he's done in his latter-day career. As the title suggests, Myth America deals with the mythic America — not tales of George Washington or Lewis & Clark, but 20th Century America, with its convertibles, suburban dwellings, and rock & roll. Naturally, there's nostalgia here, along with a semblance of sarcasm, and Egan stays true to the SoCal pop/rock ideals he had in the late '70s. These gifts are in sharp relief on "Time the Master" and "Can't Cry No More," and if these songs, along with a handful of others, cry out for the lushness of the '70s that this essentially homemade production can't match, it's nevertheless gratifying to hear that he retains his songcraft all these years later.