While alt-country favorites
Jeff Tweedy (of
Wilco) and
Jay Farrar (of
Son Volt) were straying away from the electrified folk sound that made their previous band
Uncle Tupelo the band that started a movement, it took a British artist, Peter Bruntnell, to get back to the basics of a distinctly American form of music. Normal for Bridgwater, Bruntnell's third album, sounds more Tupelo than any of the ex-members of Tupelo had managed in quite a while, which is either a welcome step back (for those who aren't fond of the new rock direction of each of the ex-members) or a startling rip-off of something that's already out of date, depending on your perspective. Normal for Bridgwater leans more towards the
Son Volt school, which is only natural since two of the band's regular members guest here. It's hard to call it a rip-off with any conviction, however, because it's actually better than anything
Son Volt has done since their debut. ~ Sean Carruthers