Cross Canadian Ragweed is going to go into that pile. Stylistically, they're somewhere between Nashville with some intestinal fortitude and sounding a bit like The Outlaws (not Waylon and them, but the "Green Grass and High Tides" boys). Some of the tunes here are pleasant, if not memorable, but when they hit it right they nail it down good.

Their third and latest CD, HIGHWAY 377, starts off pleasantly if not especially memorably with "Look at Me" and "42 Miles" but if you hang in there you're rewarded with "One of These Days," a buttkicking country rocker that almost sounds as if it was recorded by an entirely different band. Just about the time you catch your breath from that "Back Around" kicks off, addressed to that lady of yours as she's walking out the door for the last time, with lyrics like "got holes in your story/got a monkey on your back/one foot in the grave/and you're caught in a trap." The anthemic "Bang My Head " will strike a chord with those who are frustrated by their failure to attain their dreams and goals, coupled with the realization that time may well be running out. "Highway 377," the title track, on the other hand begins quietly and with a bit of uneasy menace, building gradually to a crescendo that celebrates divine celebration and rescue. "Alabama" (not the Neil Young tune) is also an ode to salvation, not of the divine type, but rather of this world, of lovers separated but soon to be united, a song for those separated by time and distance but united by hope.

HIGHWAY 377, and Cross Canadian Ragweed, demonstrate that traditional southern rock is not dead, but is alive, and kicking, and quite well, even if its spirit is kept alive by way of the prairies. This a CD that not only bodes well for future releases by the band but also for their live performances. Definitely worth checking out.