Rating: NNNN
Early Riser is Jerry Leger’s best album yet. Sure, we said something similar about his last one, Some Folks Know, but they just keep getting better.
Leger found a sympathetic producer in Michael Timmins, and the record is well-developed without veering into slickness, the core Situation group augmented by piano, organ, horns and Bahamas-like female backup vocals. (In fact, one of the singers, Carleigh Aikins, also sang on Barchords.)
Factory Made is an attitude-filled rant, while Got Myself A-Thinking is a faster, funkier blues track. It’s a blues-heavy album altogether, actually – Bad Ole Dog is a stripped-down example.
Nobody’s Angel is a smooth, melodic ballad, but rollicking honky-tonker She Ain’t My Woman And I Ain’t No Woman’s Man is the standout.
Top track: She Ain’t My Woman And I Ain’t No Woman’s Man
Jerry Leger plays Sunrise Records on Saturday (April 19) for Record Store Day, and the Horseshoe Tavern May 1.
