Dreaming Out Loud
After cranking out albums on a variety of labels since their 1978 founding, the Radiators are still best known within their home base of Louisiana. Yearly headlining gigs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival notwithstanding, the band--who have yet to lose a member in nearly three decades--haven't managed to crack either the fertile jam market or the blues rock one. That's because most of their recordings have failed to combine the restless funk, blues, R&B, and rock influences into memorable original songs or coherent albums. That problem is not solved on this collection, the band's first post-Katrina album (first in five years, actually)--but there remains plenty to enjoy, even if lead singer Ed Volker's dusky voice isn't distinctive enough to propel this typically eclectic set of ballads and rockers, despite the band's muscular performance. Good-time party rockers such as "Rollercoaster," the jaunty "Good Things," and the opening, soulful "Ace in the Hole" join the Neil Young-inspired "Like a Hurricane" bluster of "Rub It In," the mid-tempo, radio-ready "Lost Radio," and the bar-blues-rocking "The Man Who Lost His Head." The band is difficult to pigeonhole, but a greasy Crescent City vibe covers each track. Like most Radiators studio releases, the rootsy songs are well played but don't pack a robust enough punch. A jolt of live juice to shake the dust off and nail a groove, as they typically do in concert, would work wonders. As difficult to dislike as it is to get excited about, the well-intentionedDreaming Out Loudcould use a shot of caffeine to wake up these performances.--Hal Horowitz