Eric Hisaw’s second album is edgy, straightforward and lyrically superior to his debut. The New Mexico native is at his best with basic Stones or Petty grooves on songs such as “Ain’t How It Was”, “First Time Again”, and the “Under The Moonlight”.
When he’s not roots-rocking, Hisaw crosses into dry country twang, but even the autobiographical “Ramblin’ Blues” (“Austin done a number on me”) and the slow-danceable “Prettiest Girl” have a faint “Dead Flowers” Stones feel. His keep-your-chin-up portrait of a family fallen on hard times having “an all day, low class, white trash garage sale” has the honest common folks empathy of Fred Eaglesmith, while the high-spirited sing-along “I Don’t Wanna Work No More” deserves to be an underground jukebox classic. Never Could Walk The Line is smart, street wise, and raggedly hip.
