North Mississippi Allstars - Electric Blue Watermelon

Genre rock Publisher ATO External Links Official Website ATO

The North Mississippi All-Stars aren't huge rock stars because they fit no genre comfortably. They're too bluesy and groove-oriented for the jam band folks. They're too jammy and too steeped in southern mythology and the Allman Brothers Band for the hipsters.

But the world is better off for having them. Now they're more steeped than ever in southern mythology. Just look at some of the song titles: "Mississippi Bollweevil," "Teasin' Brown," Moonshine" and "Mean Ol' Wind Died Down."

On the new album, only three of the 11 songs are originals, making it the closest thing they've done to their 2000 debut Shake Hands With Shorty, which had no originals. They cover old-timers like Odetta and Charley Patton and make their songs sound fresh.

The songs don't blaze a trail like they did on their earlier records. Instead, the groove is slightly more casual with the tempos slightly slower and more pedal steel guitar. An exception is "Stompin' My Foot," with a revved-up pedal steel solo from Robert Randolph.

They're a little too wistful sometimes for guys in their early-to-mid 20s. I wish they wouldn't sing lines, "It ain't like it used to be," or, "I miss the moonshine and the old times." I guess the listener has to remind themselves that Cody and Luther Dickinson's dad Jim, the album's producer, has indoctrinated such an old-school mentality and a classic roots-rock jones that they cannot help themselves.

Ultimately, though, this is the sonic calling card that the Mississippi Chamber of Commerce couldn't improve upon if they tried, making the listener stomp his or her foot and worry about what subgenre they fit in much later.