CD Review

It wasn’t that long ago when Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets was still writing songs about showing up at home drunk looking for a fight. Henneman, who has now quit drinking, had a knack for writing about drinkers, cheaters, and thousand dollar cars. A Bottle Rockets album meant good times filled with tunes about the Average Joe trying to get the gas girl’s attention or simply getting up and going to work.

And it’s not that Henneman still doesn’t represent blue collar America—heck, “Middle Man” is the name of the second track on Zoysia—it’s just that he’s now doing it with a clean conscience and a sober mind. He celebrates his life away from the bottle on “I Quit,” a song that features two Memphis soul singers and an emphatic “It’s not my problem if you can’t handle it” declaration. His newfound energy is also expressed throughout Zoysia with his Peavey guitar, which soars and vaults him to the front of the “best guitarist you’ve never heard of” list.

While their last studio album, Blue Sky, might have crept up on you like a bunt single, Zoysia keeps growing until you’ve noticed that it’s traveled well out of the park and into your regular listening rotation.