If Bruce Springsteen married The Faces....

....I supposed you'd get a band like the Star Spangles. I'm listening to a lot of WRXP these days - the New York station with a playlist that actually includes interesting music, both old and new - and these guys' song, "Take Care of Us," hits a good spot.

They've got a dense, early-Springsteen musical sludge going on - too many instruments for the mix, perhaps? - but sound a more sprightly than Bruce might have when he was warbling fare like "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?". I'd like to hear a second song before making the judgement call as to whether these guys are worth following.

In The Pipeline

So, yeah, I broke down and ordered up the new Neil Young disc. Also the new Ryan Adams EP, and some old Springsteen I had never gotten around to buying: "Tunnel of Love," "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town."

I never really got into Springsteen's work post-"Born in the USA." That was the first Bruce album I bought, as a freshman in high school, and I was totally blown away by it. My next steps were "The River" and "Born To Run." When "Tunnel of Love" came out, it was such a sonic difference (I would not get into"Nebraska," which, along with "The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle," is his top work, until college) that I simply didn't take to it. My loss. Hearing him do both "Brilliant Disguise" and "Tougher Than The Rest" in concert underscored the need for me to get the album. Plus, it's got "Spare Parts" on it. The other two discs? They have some lows, but also some songs I'd rather have as part of the collection than not.

"Why don't you just download them, idiot?" A reasonable question, but I still like having liner notes and a tangible piece of work at the ready, rather than a couple of downloaded files on a small square metal box. I'm crazy that way.

More on Neil and Ryan later.