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Glossary, The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2007 (Undertow Music/Indie)
Murfreesboro, Tennessee alt-country rock outfit Glossary continue delivering infectious blue-collar rock on their latest The Better Angels of Our Nature, released as a free download in 2007. Utilizing smart, self-aware lyrics, singer/guitarist Joey Kneiser offers enough emotion in his songs to compete with Springsteen's "Born to Run." Kneiser is the real deal. He wears his heart on his sleeve and tells it like it is—never a hint of bullshit in his lyrics, yet the lyrics are always intelligently written with appropriate metaphors that allow for broader interpretations. "Shout it from the Rooftops" is triumphant, an instant classic that will get the fists pumping at every live performance. Indeed, Kneiser has that look in his eyes, possessed with the rush of channeling difficult emotions through the medium of rock 'n' roll. The lifestyle is not an easy one, as reflected in their previous, critically acclaimed record For What I Don't Become, but Glossary's latest is a clear indication that Kneiser and company are digging in and raising their fists high while marching forward against the road's resistance. Listening to this record just once would be a mistake. Give it time to work on you. Let it repeat and notice how each song on this record comes into its own, while song pairs like the alt-country rocker "Bitter Branch" that gives way to the ambient guitars and pedal steel of "Gasoline Soaked Heart" emerge as nothing short of brilliant. — Vincent Wynne, January 27, 2008
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