John Doe And The Sadies: Country Club

Longtime X frontman John Doe and Canadian jangle-merchants The Sadies have each spent their careers putting a personal spin on rockabilly and traditional country music. Doe has been exploring the shadowy booze-and-motels side of the genre, while The Sadies’ Travis and Dallas Good have ventured into mountain mysticism. Yet for the collaborative LP Country Club, Doe and the Goods take a fairly reverent approach, mixing just a few pastichey originals into a set of well-worn C&W covers. There’s nothing wrong with the album per se, and on a handful of tracks—most notably Roger Miller’s melancholy, matter-of-fact “Husbands And Wives” and The Sadies’ dreamy “Before I Wake”—the combination of Doe’s weathered growl and the Good brothers’ unadorned Bakersfield sound adds up to something special. But given the capabilities of all concerned, Country Club’s unspectacular covers of chestnuts like “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “I Still Miss Someone” feel like wasted time, both for listeners and for this group of absurdly talented musicians.