(Big) Easy On The Ears

9th Ward Pickin' Parlor
Shawn Mullins
(Vanguard)

I didn't want to buy this disc.

Why, you ask? It's simple, really. I was still feeling a little resentful over hearing Shawn Mullins' smash "Lullaby" every time I was within 300 feet of a radio in 1998.

But, as Michael Corleone said in "The Godfather: Part III," "Just when I thought that I was out, they pull me back in." (This part is much better if you read it in Pacino voice)

I'm not going to be too hard on myself. Mullins is a talented guy, and it can be hard to get a good hook, such as the one in "Lullaby," out of your mind. I tried to resist "The Thorns," Mullins' semi-supergroup collaboration with Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet in 2003. But their sunny, Crosby, Stills & Nash harmonies (not to mention their cover of the Jayhawks' "Blue") were ultimately too tempting.

Still, I was prepared to pass on this one. I thought rationalizing that decision would be easy, particularly when I looked at the track listing. I mean, come on, does the world really need another version of "House of the Rising Sun"?

Then I listened to it.

By now, you've probably figured out that my willpower waned.

After his major-label run, Mullins now is on singer-songwriter-friendly indie label Vanguard, and his comfort with that situation is obvious. "9th Ward Pickin' Parlor," named for the New Orleans studio destroyed by Hurricane Katrina where much of the album was recorded, is an outstanding showcase for Mullins' songwriting and rich, soulful voice.

The album is more acoustic and roots-oriented than some of his past work, but Mullins shines in the stripped-down setting and still has pop sensibilities. "Beautiful Wreck," a co-write with Droge, Glenn Phillips and Marshall Altman, would be a radio hit if a) radio didn't now completely suck and b) if radio (at least as I remember it) didn't have a beef with mandolins. The tune, a part-proud, part-pitying tribute to a friend who can't get their shit together, is clearly the standout on this disc and currently is inspiring repeated plays in the Moores family truckster.

Mullins doesn't only cater to the rock and power-pop crowds, though. Far from it. He scores some Americana cred via Chris Thile's mandolin on "Homemade Wine."

It appears that Americana has brought out the best in Mullins. The opener "Blue as You" was co-written with fellow Thorns Droge and Sweet, but its acoustic strumming and laconic, husky vocals evoke thoughts of John Prine and Guy Clark (full disclosure: I read those comparisons somewhere, and I haven't been able to come up with anything better). Same goes for "Kelly's Song," which Mullins wrote on his own.

Mullins says in the liner notes that he went to the Big Easy and the Pickin' Parlor seeking a "raw, unpolished sound." He found it, and a fair bit of traditional feel as well. "Cold Black Heart" is a good, old-fashioned murder ballad that gets an exotic flavor from Mullins' work on the charango (a 10-stringed Bolivian instrument).

"Talking Goin' to Alaska Blues" is just what it sounds like – an ode to the road. "Lay Down Your Swords, Boys" feels like something Woody Guthrie would be doing if he were around today.

As for that version of "House of the Rising Sun," it's a worthy addition to the scores that are out there. For one thing, Mullins gets bonus points for not getting hung up on gender correctness and restores the narrator's original female voice. It builds as it goes along, with snarling electric guitars lurking just below the vocals and surfacing between the verses before bursting out again in a searing solo. I kind of miss the organ solo from The Animals' version, but I've missed it less each time around. When you think you've heard it before, Mullins seemingly finds a way to make it sound inviting.

And I'll tell you another thing: To this day, every time I hear "Lullaby," I stop and listen.

Every goddamn time.