Morality tales of California

Jackie Greene

“Give Up the Ghost” (429 Records)

*** 1/2

It’s possible, but hardly common, for a singer-songwriter to sound echoes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Gram Parsons, Elvis Costello and Paul Westerberg, all of which Jackie Greene does on his fifth album (in stores Tuesday).

The hard part, which Greene seems to pull off so effortlessly, is triggering those echoes without sacrificing an authentic voice of his own. That may be one meaning of the album’s title: Greene, who plays Crash Mansion on April 11, seems comfortable acknowledging the ghosts of pop music past, perhaps because he’s in thrall to none of them.

In “Uphill Mountain” alone, he references colorfully named characters such as Peeping Tom and Madame Rose, name-checks Elmore James and John Henry and tosses off such bons mots as “You got to take just what you are given/’Cause luck only matters with the cards and the women,” staking his claim as a peer, not a shadow.

The San Francisco-based musician opens the album advising the listener, “California is the place to be, but I should warn you about the things I’ve seen.” He proceeds to reel off one fascinating, detail-rich tale or morality play after another. Somehow, as literate as his lyrics can read, they never sound academic, rarely self-conscious: “I don’t pretend to make the world feel better / I don’t live on the moon,” he sings in “I Don’t Live in a Dream.” No brag, just fact.

He’s a skilled multi-instrumentalist and has been a virtual one-man band on previous albums, but this time he’s assembled a crack team of Americana/roots music specialists to support him, among them Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Steve Berlin, drummer Pete Thomas, bassist Davey Farragher and steel guitarist par excellence Greg Leisz.

Greene’s songs span the basest impulses of lust and revenge to the noblest spiritual aspirations -- everything that defines what it means to be human. And nary a ghost in sight.

-- Randy Lewis

Danger joins the dynamic

The Black Keys

“Attack & Release” (Nonesuch)

** 1/2

The first four albums by this Akron, Ohio-based duo presented the Black Keys as blues-punk purists committed to keeping their music free of the corrupting influences of modern pop.

Here, though, singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney hired genre-scrambling producer Danger Mouse, whose work in Gnarls Barkley is built on the conviction that corrupting influences are to be celebrated.

The result is without doubt the Keys’ most dynamic effort yet: Throughout “Attack & Release” (in stores Tuesday), loud guitars give way to eerie choral vocals and minor-key organ ooze, while Auerbach’s drumming seems indebted to hip-hop’s omnipresent boom-bap.

You get the sense Danger Mouse could’ve pushed these guys a lot further; this record should be more soulful, or more colorful, or funnier. As it is, it’s an encouraging (re)start. The group plays Sunday at the Glass House in Pomona and Tuesday at the Wiltern.

-- Mikael Wood

--

Albums are rated on a scale of four stars (excellent), three stars (good), two stars (fair) and one star (poor). Albums reviewed have been released except as indicated.