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The unusually poor songwriting and lacklustre performances on the last few albums Dwight Yoakam recorded for Reprise led to speculation that he was taking his best tunes with him. The overall compositional superiority of Blame The Vain – his self-produced debut for New West – supports that theory. From reckless roadhouse rockers to bluesy barstool weepers, Yoakam swaggers from strength to strength with the carefree verve of a man freed from creative shackles. His Slingblade alter ego, Doyle Hargraves, makes a surprise cameo at the end of Intentional Heartache, while the synth-squealing intro to She’ll Remember has our boy hilariously adopting a whiny British accent for what will likely go down as the weirdest count-in ever by a man in a Stetson. You’ll like this Dwight.
