He’s got faith in populism

Pat Green

“Wave on Wave” (Republic)

*** 1/2

With his second major-label album (in stores Tuesday), this amiable Texas singer-songwriter audaciously positions himself in the pantheon of such populist musicians as Woody Guthrie, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen. He quickly establishes his worthiness to be among that number with unapologetically artful yet straightforward songwriting.

He sets himself up as a rock-country-folk everyman in the opening “Guy Like Me.” On the surface it’s an aw-shucks declaration that he’s not among life’s privileged few, a la Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son.” But like most of the album’s songs, it works on deeper levels, conveying his alienation from media-bred notions about love and romance as well as a broader philosophical recognition that each of us is essentially alone in the universe.

This also is an album intent on exploring spirituality, not the type trumpeted from a pulpit, but belief held securely in one’s soul. Nearly every song touches on some facet of faith, sin or redemption. As Green puts it in the title track: “We’re all looking for redemption / We’re just afraid to say the name.”

He further touches on freedom versus responsibility, the ability of music (especially country) to ameliorate pain and the universality of Elvis (with help from Texas pals Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson).

Green plays Thursday at the House of Blues in West Hollywood and Friday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.

-- Randy Lewis

Third time’s the charm

Macy Gray

“The Trouble With Being Myself” (Epic)

***

Gray is a true eccentric, and not just because of her love-it-or-hate-it voice, with its gloriously squeaky, scratchy luster. Still, the soul-pop singer-songwriter’s third album has nothing as troubling as the jams and digressions that derailed 2001’s “The Id.”

Excesses thankfully reined in, her psychedelic R&B-funk-jazz; sometimes feels a little too close to her 1999 debut, “On How Life Is.” But that’s OK.

Maybe there’s nothing here like the epic “I Try,” but phone talk and a ringing, Jackson 5-esque hook make the exuberant “When I See You” a fetching successor to “Why Didn’t You Call Me.” The eerie, synth-spiked “My Fondest Childhood Memories” even deals with another true-confessions crime story, a la “I’ve Committed Murder.”

The production remains propulsive while favoring a sprawling, ‘70s-type sound with horns, wah-wah guitar, loads of percussion and lush strings. Yet the music also mixes in stark hip-hop beats and squealing ‘80s-era funk keyboards to alternately cutting-edge and cheesy effect.

“Trouble” has its quirks, including a cinematic ballad fantasizing about being “Jesus for a Day,” but Gray infuses such numbers as “She Ain’t Right for You” with both confidence and a subtle self-doubt, expressed with that slight defensiveness that gives her work such an endearing feeling of truth.

--Natalie Nichols

Quick spin

Caitlin Cary

“I’m Staying Out” (Yep Roc)

***

If, as country singer John Michael Montgomery once sang, “life’s a dance,” all too often it’s a last waltz. Ryan Adams’ erstwhile partner in Whiskeytown homes in astutely on what happens when relationships break down, not to wallow, but to vent as well as to understand. Framed in heartland rock, alt-folk and pure country, Cary’s songs recognize the odds against finding a love that lasts, yet she doesn’t give up -- holding out hope that “maybe the next one will be the best one.”

-- R.L.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).