Kim Richey: Glimmer

Kevin Salem's 1994 debut, Soma City, should have won the singer-songwriter a place among the critically acclaimed roots-rock elite, but for the most part the album was ignored. Too bad: Salem writes some of the genre's hookiest, most deceptively simple songs, and that album's "Lighthouse Keeper" was one of the year's tragically lost singles. The new Glimmer is a bit spottier than its predecessor—there's a little too much gloom scattered throughout—but it has plenty to recommend its discovery. Salem still writes terrific rock songs ("Chemical Night Train" is the best of a good lot here) with traces of blues and country, and balances them with effectively somber, slow-burning ballads. His distinctive-but-accessible voice is in fine form here; fans of straight-ahead, unpretentious rock should seek this one out.