Subtle and sleepy, gentle and resonant, Eric Thompson's shimmering take on country-rock takes Nashville's emotive vocal style, throws in a pedal steel and rootsy rock riffs, and turns out a dusty, feel-good -- if slightly too slick -- album called
Manic + Organic. Whether on the shuffling rock anthem "Get Back to It" or the humorous, old-school country of "It's a Guy Thing," Thompson's band uses simple arrangements to evoke a true down-home feeling. The songwriting isn't as gritty and powerful as that of
Whiskeytown,
Ryan Adams, or
Kasey Chambers, but Eric Thompson is cut from the same thread -- patterned by
Gram Parsons,
the Allman Brothers,
Johnny Cash, and
Willie Nelson -- and
Manic + Organic shows his potential to one day make a really spectacular record. ~ Charles Spano