Sue Foley pretty much sticks to her guns on
New Used Car -- her tenth album and second for Germany's Ruf Records -- resisting the urge to go pure pop and turning out instead another set of blues-inflected roots rock originals that prominently feature her laser-guided electric guitar leads. This is certainly good news, and things get off to a great start with the spunky opener and title tune "New Used Car," which cooks along on
Foley's guitar and sharp lyrics that are fully aware that a car is just a metaphor for getting where you want to go and that the back seat is full of all the baggage a life brings. Unfortunately the opening momentum drops off quickly here, and the thinness of
Foley's voice becomes obvious on much of what follows, which wouldn't really be a problem if the songs, all but one of which are
Foley originals, were just a little bit better. "Sugar" has a nice, saucy feel, and the closing track, the closest thing to a straight blues on
New Used Car, "Change Your Mind," is impressive, even if it is essentially a rewrite of the old folk-blues nugget "Baby Let Me Follow You Down." The one song
Foley didn't have a hand in writing here, Terry Gillespie's "When I Come Back to Ya," is also arresting, and
Foley's just-slightly-shaky vocal adds real dimension to the song. Elsewhere, though, the songs feel not quite whole, and although
Foley's guitar playing is everywhere excellent and features her trademark biting tone, she just isn't a strong enough singer to carry weaker material. Don't count her out, though.
Foley has a real vulnerability in her voice that she spends most of her time writing away from, and when she figures out how to write toward it, the real strength of this remarkable musician should emerge. Lord knows she can play guitar with the best of them. She just needs to figure out how to write the songs that only she could have written. Here's betting that she'll get there soon.