Yet more retro-boogie rock & roll, triangulated approximately between
Jet,
the Datsuns and
My Morning Jacket (in other words, copping licks about equally from vintage
Rolling Stones, garage rock and Neil Young & Crazy Horse),
the Blackouts' second album is amiable, fitfully entertaining but fundamentally uninspiring. The songs are entirely competent bar band rock, but there's a curious lack of immediacy to the proceedings; songs like the
Dream Syndicate-like twangy choogle "Open Casket Access" clearly want to kick out the jams, but Steve Ucherek's lightweight mumble of a voice sounds permanently stuck in
Julian Casablancas-style boredom, and he drags the rest of the band down to the same not-quite-there level. One hopes they're better live. (In late 2004, the Illinois-based
Blackouts signed to Chicago indie Minty Fresh and changed their name to Living Blue to avoid confusion with a similarly-named band.) ~ Stewart Mason