Rank Outsider

The first of two albums the Lazy Cowgirls would drop within six months, Rank Outsider is a solid slice of meat-and-potatoes punk rock with plenty of rootsy side dishes included for variety. Returning guitarist Michael Leigh isn't quite up to the level of fuzzy genius of founding fret wrestler D.D. Weekday, but he certainly understands what these songs need and lays in plenty of high-impact downstroke with sweat and skill (and his parts feel better in context than what Eric Chandler brought to the picture on A Little Sex and Death). Singer Pat Todd is in superb, revved-up form here -- if anything, the guy's vocals just get better and more confident with the passage of time -- and while the presence of a few acoustic-based cuts is something new for this band, their loose, bluesy feel harkens back to Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones more than anyone in the MTV Unplugged crowd. Another great record from a band that knows how. ~ Mark Deming