CHUCK PROPHET
No Other Love
(New West)
The word "Americana" gets bandied about a lot by music critics and fans; it's even been adopted as a format by radio stations and trade magazines. What these entities usually mean by the term is music blatantly influenced by pre-rock American sources that have roots in acoustic music, especially country, blues and folk. The artists that fall under this genre designation tend to put songs before stylization, and sincerity before show business. That's the good news. The bad is that they also tend to be fairly predictable; if you see a description of a musician as "Americana," you pretty much know exactly what you're going to get.

What Americana should mean is music with its roots in the American musical experience, and there's a lot more to American music than country, blues and folk, legitimate as they are. Soul, gospel, the various shades of rock & roll, hip-hop, even electronica (which has its roots in house music, which was created in Detroit by an American DJ) are just as legitimate as anything "rootsy," and as such fodder for the artists' mill. Similarly, subject matter, lyrical imagery, even atmosphere could make music Americana. As musical inspiration for the Stooges, Iggy Pop took not only his beloved blues and soul music, but also the dissonant sounds of the auto factories in which his friends and family worked. Plus the point of view of bored, horny working class kids that informed the Stooges' music may not draw any influence from Hank Williams or Bill Monroe, but it's as American as apple pie and relaxed gun laws.

If anyone deserves the designation Americana, it's Chuck Prophet. He's a rocker who came up in the punk era and was co-captain to Green on Red, one of the 80s' most beloved psychedelic cowpunk bands. But for all his postpunk credibility he's also well aware of rock's past history and has a sure feel for pre-punk genres like soul, blues, country and 60s rock, enough to work with veterans like songwriter Dan Penn ("Dark End of the Street") and roots music darling Kelly Willis. Combined with his recent interest in electronics and hip-hop, Prophet has assumed command of the elements of a variety of American music forms, blending them with his expert songs to create a rock & roll hybrid that practically screams "Americana."

Prophet's latest album No Other Love is his most masterful yet. Stinging Telecaster licks get comfortable with primitive drum machines, Rhodes piano sidles up to tastefully mixed samples and yesterday's melodies make time with today's grooves. Take "That How Much I Need Your Love," for example. It's got twangy guitar, Farfisa organ and a rubbery beat combined with an Omnichord and vocal samples, in a completely organic blend. It's brought to bear on a song that reveals knowledge of not only traditional blues imagery ("If I was a Cadillac you'd be my driving wheel") but also contemporary iconography ("I took the road less traveled in a suicide machine"), all put to the service of a straightforward, no-bullshit sentiment. And it's only one of a cluster of gems. "Run Primo Run" tells a Farfisa-and-tremolo laced tale of outlaws and criminal regrets while namechecking Richard Gere; "Elouise" uses a sexy groove to attempt seduction of a bespectacled geek girl. "I Bow Down and Pray to Every Woman I See" simmers its character study in enough production atmosphere to make the sentiment creepy instead of poetic, while "Summertime Thing" uses a hip-hop rhythm and a jaunty pedal steel lick to convey the joys of summer, from "Put the Beach Boys on/Wanna hear 'Help Me Rhonda'" to "Take off your clothes/Jump into the river." He's equally good with the ballads; "Old Friends" uses a gently shuffling loop to power its emotional conflicts, while "After the Rain" and the title track scale back the production flourishes to get their messages across simply and cleanly.

Though the sheer number of different elements could have produced a crowded mess, Prophet avoids this trap, knowing exactly when to use an effect and when not to. He utilizes his own best traits—his expert guitar stylings, his solid tuneage and his distinctive voice, which, while naturally limited, has never been more expressive—as anchors for every arrangement. His instinct is always to serve the song, and it's an instinct that never fails him, especially here. No Other Love is Americana at its finest. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Henry, Dave Alvin