Nicki Bluhm's second album,
Driftwood, is the sort of record they're not supposed to make anymore -- laid-back but committed country-infused rock that sounds like it should have drifted out of some Laurel Canyon bungalow in the early 1970s instead of a recording studio in San Francisco in 2010. While there does seem to be an element of semi-hippie nostalgia at work on this album,
Driftwood works because this music suits
Bluhm and her collaborators so well; she's an outstanding vocalist with a convincing country edge that she never pushes too hard, a willingness to rock gracefully when the material calls for it, and a welcome absence of the melismatic frenzy that passes for "soul" in the 21st century.
Bluhm also wrote many of the album's best songs (most by herself, one in collaboration with her husband and musical partner
Tim Bluhm, who duets with her to fine effect on "Stick with Me"), and "Jetplane," "Before You Loved Me," and "Kill You to Call" prove her fondness for vintage El Lay sounds is no affectation, and it's not hard to imagine
Linda Ronstadt or
Rita Coolidge tackling some of these tunes back in the day. The band, anchored by
Tim Bluhm and Deren Ney, sound nearly as good as the triple-scale studio cats they strive to emulate; the production is simple, sturdy, and puts
Nicki front and center, where she belongs, and she covers
Doug Sahm's "I Wanna Be Your Mama Again" like she owns it.
Driftwood may sound as if it emerged in the wrong decade, but it's fresh, effective, and confirms
Nicki Bluhm is a talent of the first order. ~ Mark Deming