CD review: No Justice “America's Son”

The Stillwater band's fourth studio album recently debuted on the Billboard charts, bowing at No. 36 on the Heat Seeker chart and No. 4 on the Heat Seeker-South Central Regional list.

Album opener “Never Gonna Be Enough” quickly proves that the Stillwater band may be retracing its country roots but isn't completely abandoning the rock sound that charged up its 2010 release “Second Avenue.” Jason Isbell's stellar slide guitar work, coupled with lead singer Steve Rice's strong but world-weary vocals, gives the new single a jolt of rock electricity.

The album follows up with “Life's Too Short,” a raise-your-glass party song that toasts the band's country leanings, as well as its rock tendencies. But the title track, a wistful road anthem, comes down firmly in the country camp, with distinctive Americana overtones added for good measure.

The romantic ballad “Run Away with Me” showcases the butter-melting warmth of Rice's voice, which matches well with Elizabeth Cook's lilting croon on the twangy traveling tune “Songs on the Radio.”