As Gaunce’s moving harmonica leads the way in the opener, “Greeting Card”, The Stationary Poets get off to a melodically good start. With moody, contemplative songs such as “Waiting on a Train”, “All The Love” and the aforementioned “Greeting Card”, it’s very easy (almost too easy) to make the obvious Dylanesque comparison (Bob or Jakob, take your pick!). But, it is also an apt one, and not such bad company to be in, at all. If you’re from the "Just Like A Woman" school of the father, or the “6th Avenue Heartache” school of the son, The Stationary Poets will have no trouble finding a place in your music-loving soul.

That's not to say that this 5-piece band is purely a revisionistic Dylan construction. Far from it. Robin Miller’s keyboard work is often transcendental (“Don’t Know”, “Can’t Believe”), and the forceful rhythm section, comprised of bassist Charlie Corletto and drummer Mike Trimble, is rounded out with a three-barrel guitar assist (Miller, Gaunce and Billy Kello provide alternating 6-string licks, with Kello stepping up to showcase his skill on slide guitar). The Stationary Poets establish their unique position in the roots-rock hierarchy by expertly blending southern-styled guitar with a hint of groove rock and just a taste of swamp rock to smack their original compositions with vibrant personality, opening up the genre with sparks of elucidating nuance.

So, whether coasting down some lonesome highway, in a ’58 convertible with the top down, listening to the Chris Isaac-sounding “Blacktop Lane”, or taking a detour to hear a bar band in some distant, whiskey-soaked dive hearing “Shiny Paint”, or just kicking back under a cool, cloudy sky while the bluesy, aching refrains of “So Long” rain over you like a lover’s memory, you can take supreme pleasure in the irresistible strains of The Stationary Poets and remember just how comforting good music can be.