Chicks have soul and let it show

Country music has been reduced to mockery. With modern country infused with the pop-driven sounds of Faith Hill and, well, everyone else, instead of the Cash and Haggard-type soulful strumming, the best you'll hear on country airwaves is usually some untalented, lovesick ballad with a token steel-guitar riff. But you won't get that from the Dixie Chicks.\nWith the band's latest release, Home, the trio of fiddle-playing, banjo-picking and mandolin-strumming women continues to put down-home country and bluegrass-feeling back into modern country music. \nThe lyrics from Home's first single sum up the plague of blandness sucking the life out of today's country music: "We listen to the radio to hear what's cookin' / But the music ain't got no soul." No kidding -- and points to the Chicks for trying to put some soul back onto the airwaves. \nWhile many of these tracks are lovesick ballads, the lyrics are more intelligent than your average "I screwed up and my love left me" subject matter floating around. In particular, the title track and a cover of Patty Griffin's "Top of the World" take this theme, explore it with candor and grace, and back it up with solid bluegrass sounds. \nThe Chicks use a formula that mixes slightly sarcastic, upbeat country boppers with fluid, heartspoken ballads, a pattern they tested on 1998's Wide Open Spaces and 1999's Fly. Disappointingly enough, there are more slow tunes on the album than upbeat ones, not making for as happy a collection as past releases. The Chicks are either growing up or getting older.\nHighlight tracks are "White Trash Wedding" (with the lyric, "It took a nip of gin / But you finally took my hand"), the fast-picking instrumental "Lil' Jack Slade" and the single "Long Time Gone." The Chicks even cover Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" successfully enough, giving it a down-from-the-mountain musical spin. \nOverall, you can tell this is a Chicks album. No great improvements, but no giant detractors either. If you're a fan, pick it up. If you're not, try getting Fly first.