Brand New Girlfriend (CD - 2006)

Nashville singer-songwriter Steve Holy's third album maintains the standards set by his first two: mainstream country-pop with a strong hint of '50s rock-&-roll influence, especially in the vocals. On ballads like "Baby Don't Go," Holy slips easily into a Roy Orbison-style falsetto, but his heart belongs to roadhouse country and rockabilly. This is best evidenced by the first single and title track, which starts with an overly dramatic, tongue-in-cheek spoken word intro that quickly devolves into a raucous country-rock stomp with a Big 'N Rich-style beat. Songs like "Men Buy the Drinks (Women Call the Shots)" and the straight-up rockabilly of "Hurry Up" continue the good-timey feel, while ballads like "Only the Lonely Talking" edge into Chris Isaak's retro territory. One of the rare contemporary Nashville country artists with a clear fondness for early rock & roll, Steve Holy smartly fuses the two styles into something refreshingly new. minimize