POP MUSIC REVIEW : Cry of Love at Troubadour: A Southern Rock Sound

The North Carolina blues-rock act Cry of Love rolled into the Troubadour on Thursday to mine musical territory familiar to anyone who listens to classic-rock radio. It was also a concert balanced by some searing, contemplative moments of Southern grace.

Cry of Love is committed to the heavy finesse of that old Southern rock sound, even if singer Kelly Holland performs in a strutting tone closer to British blues-rocker Paul Rodgers than to the anguished moan of fellow-Southerner Gregg Allman. Arriving on stage in a Robert Johnson T-shirt and his leather “whiskey-drinkin’ hat,” Holland also tossed convincing bits of lyrics from Chaka Khan (“Tell Me Something Good”) and Stevie Wonder (“Livin’ in the City”) into the quartet’s surprising mix.

Too often band members were trapped by their own extended jams, with guitarist Audley Freed unassertive behind a simple, throbbing rhythm. Cry of Love is not a band of virtuosos, so these long solos on guitar, bass or drums rarely took the music anywhere.

But the band just as often coalesced into a tight unit, weaving soaring pop melodies with blues integrity, as on the unreleased song “Broken Toy.” It was at these moments, when Holland played rhythm guitar to provide added muscle and texture, that Cry of Love approached the level of its divine blues-rock forefathers.