Aural Fixations

JON DEE GRAHAM
The Great Battle
(New West)
It's difficult making rock & roll for adults. It's hard to take a musical form so associated, rightly or wrongly, with youthful rebellion and force it to grow up and address mature themes without losing the energy that makes it appealing in the first place. It can be done, though, as any fan of Richard Thompson, Wayne Kramer or John Hiatt can attest, and one of its lesser-known but equally notable practitioners is Austin's Jon Dee Graham. The rootsy guitarist/songwriter has only gotten better over the arc of his three albums, and his fourth release The Great Battle is his most consistent yet. Graham's always strong writing is simply on a roll here, with the note-perfect opener "Twilight," the odd but seductive ballad "Robot Moving," the engaging folk rocker "Something to Look Forward To" and the melodic roots rocker "Harvest" adding to his growing list of classic cuts. The record also includes, as has become usual, a remake of one of his True Believers tracks; in this case it's the elegiac ballad "Sleep Enough to Dream," which, while not necessarily superior to the original recording, is welcome nonetheless. If there's a flaw here, it's in how ballad-heavy the record is—Graham is quite capable of blowing folks' butts off their barstools with fiery guitar work and stomping rock & roll, and neither is much in evidence here. But his gravely voice continues to age like a fine wine, his songwriting reigns supreme, and The Great Battle is another standard hoisted in the name of maturity without compromise. Michael Toland [buy it]