Cookin' Cajun

The idea sounded cool: Raven and Sonnier were going to go into the studio together and make an almost-live, easy going album of Cajun and swamp pop music, with little fanfare and lots of fun. It could have been a raw, lively winner. It's not. This is by-the-numbers, slick Louisiana pop that shows off neither Raven's good-timey verve nor Sonnier's accordion skills. They chew up the old chestnut, "Jambalaya," into a lifeless pulp. They proceed to sleep walk through Richard Thompson's "Tear Stained Letter" (a Sonnier show piece live). They do credible, but hardly innovative, new turns on "Colinda" and "Diggy Liggy Lo." They take stab at Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" in the only vaguely interesting track on the album. Pick any of their solo albums and you'll have a better time. --Louis Gibson