Lovely Creatures finds
Bob Schneider doing what he does best: ruminating over failed relationships, courting new ones, and pitching his baritone vocals over a mixed bag of pop/rock, folk, and mambo arrangements. Those who love
Schneider's versatility have a lot to explore here, as the wide-ranging track list rarely dwells on one genre. Even so,
Lovely Creatures occasionally stretches itself too thin in its attempt to widen its creator's comfort zone. The two Latin-inspired tracks, "Bombanaza" and "Tarantula," are longtime staples of his live show, but their recorded versions are so overtly caliente (with brassy horns and feverish hand percussion) that they come off like
Marc Anthony numbers. Elsewhere,
Schneider channels the beach-bum strut of
Jack Johnson on songs like "The Bringdown" and "Your Head Holds Gold, Your Heart Holds Diamonds," two songs that fail to deliver the Texas-sized punch of his past work. Only on the midtempo numbers does the songwriter truly sound like himself, whether he's dueting with
Patty Griffin on the gorgeously sad "Changing Your Mind," or chasing after mainstream radio with "40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)."
Lovely Creatures is filled with some of
Schneider's finest songs to date, which makes the album's missteps all the more glaring.