It's morning again

Sick of lo-fi, Brit rock trios whose albums are found on every Spin "You Should Own This" list? Need a good mandolin fix? If you can no longer be moved by songs whining about social distortion and simply yearn for the sounds of the mountains and the moon, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is calling you home.\nThis 1970s mountain-country quintet is back again with Welcome to Woody Creek, a mystic reclamation of a fuller American sound. With vocal harmonies carrying Dixie-fried shadows of the Grateful Dead's "Ripple" and lyrics lamenting the age we live where, "forever don't last like it used to," the Dirt Band brings country music some long needed soul. \nRecorded in a home studio in the rough seclusion of the Colorado Rockies, the Dirt Band brings new life to the Emmylou Harris standard "She" and gives the Beatles' "Get Back" a surprisingly addictive, finger-picked facelift. The track "Jealous Moon" serves as a refresher course to truer love ballads for rising stars, while the final cut, "Midnight at Woody Creek," proves that musicianship can shine without lyrics or synthesizers on a modern album. \nYou can listen to the Rockies in Bloomington, but if anything, this work is worth the listener's perusal for old time's sake.