T. Hardy Morris - Drownin' On A Mountaintop (2015)

If Hardy's solo debut ''Audition Tapes'' was a high and lonesome mellow-roast with musical touchstones like ''Harvest'' era Neil [Young] and driving down a windy back road alone, ''Drownin' On A Mountaintop'' blasts out of the garage like some high-octane muscle car full of friends, blasting Mott The Hoople on the way to the last-call dive bar. - --Patterson Hood, Drive By Truckers

For those of you who are unaware of Morris--and that should be less and less people as time passes--he is the voice of the dense Southern psychedelic band Dead Confederate, the most interesting voice of the indie supergroup Diamond Rugs, and his own voice in the shape of previous release ''The Audition Tapes'' (Dangerbird, 2013), under his own name, and now this new record under the moniker Hardy and the Hardknocks. His ''crunge'' description is highly accurate. The opening song, ''Young Assumption'' is a rocker that immediately strikes the ears with its unusual combination of distorted guitar, pedal steel, and huge, contemporary drums. It's the sound that reigns throughout the 11-song romp, and as striking as it is from the start, it grows on you as it goes. One of the other things that sets this batch of songs apart is the spontaneity with which much of the album was created. There is a fresh, self-assuredness, the work of a man who knows from experience how to do what he does, yet holds true to Flannery O'Connor's theory of ''Mystery And Manners'': practice what you do, learn how to do, then surprise yourself. Morris has, indeed, been lucky enough to attract musicians who are amazing players, but also get what he does, then deliver what he wants. Case in point, the bridge between Morris' two solo albums is Matt Stoessel's pedal steel. ''Pistol,'' as he's known in the Athens musical community, is a go-to studio guy for pedal steel and amazing electric lead work. He has played with Will Johnson in South San Gabriel, and is currently a member of David Lowery's reformulated band, Cracker. --Paste, June 16, 2015