Blue eyed soul usually means Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and the brat pack. For people who know better, though, it means Waylon, Merle, Willie and Johnny. Those are the people who'll like this cd. It's a collection of beer-soaked snapshots taken in smokey taverns in the middle of nowhere, and these guys have been there. Singer/guitarist Steve Leslie is the chief songwriter, but guitarist Loren Huggins uses his tele well to punctuate with just the right amount of twang. Drummer Erik Anderson's jazz-informed chops add something not often heard in this kind of music, and Aaron Ansley's bass stays right where it belongs from beginning to end. Although the band hails from Washington, Leslie's slight drawl - earned in Texas and Oklahoma - gives the all-too-common stories of heartache and wanderlust a place to live. The album puts the listener in the middle of understated tales of persistent aches for someone, or the inevitable ass-end of a snorting, grunting, bare-knuckles, double-fisting good time. Mexican Daydream, a bouncing romp into rockabilly, is the album's highlight with possibly the best refrain in all of alt country. I dare you not to sing along when Leslie sings, "Hey now, what've I got to show/dreamin' of Mexico/half drunk/with another half to go." Anybody who's spent enough time in roadhouses, dive bars, taverns and other refuges from lonliness has seen these stories play out, and the stories behind the songs are real, if not a little scary. Leslie once dedicated Can't Stand - about getting kicked out of a bar when too much time there isn't nearly enough - to his brother, who had previously got kicked out of the bar as the band played the song. Most songs on the record - Dry in particular - give you time to soak in a room full of smoke and cheap beer. If you're not careful, it'll bring you back to that haunting lonliness you can't give up for just anybody, if you're not there already.

This cd is a great example that good Alt country can come from someplace other than Texas. Excellent lyrics on top of a strong band make this a cd you can listen to a lot with out it getting played out quickly. Songs like Cant Stand will ring true for anybody that has found loneliness and liquer better company than people. Great showing for a first album cant wait to hear from Chuckanut again. Carlo Seattle Wa