WILLIE NILE > House of a Thousand Guitars

At his best, Willie Nile cuts lines as sharp and everlasting as Raymond Carver. Consider this album’s title track: the 50-year-old songwriter whittles static rock and roll history into a bright, bustling current events narrative.

Label: RIVER HOUSE
[Rating: 3 STARS]

At his best, Willie Nile cuts lines as sharp and everlasting as Raymond Carver. Consider this album’s title track: the 50-year-old songwriter whittles static rock and roll history into a bright, bustling current events narrative. “There’s not a dry eye when old Hank sings/in the house of a thousand guitars/of the pain and hurt love sometimes brings.” The song’s rag-tag urgency and graceful simplicity-its message both relevant and reverent-fortifies long-whispered Springsteen comparisons. Ditto the punchy freightliners that follow (“Run,” “Doomsday Dance,” “The Midnight Rose”). Unfortunately, this front-loaded collection ultimately loses steam with good-hearted but faceless laments like “Little Light” and “Touch Me.”