Crashing the Ether

After four years since he cut a studio album, Tommy Keene returned to the do-it-yourself work-at-home ethic of Minneapolis shut-ins Prince and Paul Westerberg to create an almost one-man pop-rock reminder that it ain't over yet. All those critic's raves from the '80s and '90s seem justified in the 10 guitar-etched songs gushing with melody and six-sting drama. With guest help from former band mates, the Gin Blossom's Jesse Valenzuela and others, Keene is right in the pocket with smartly crafted new songs shaped by John Richardson's sinewy drumming and those trademark jangling guitar lines. While his rock pedigree seems to marry The Byrds and The 'Mats without apology or indulgence, Keene stakes out his own turf on Ether, covering subjects that range from stark photographs of New York City to Warren Beatty in the '60s, the Warren Commission and a handful of personal songs. You don't have to go much further than the blistering "I've Heard that Wind Blow Before" with its catapulting rhythm pounding over a barbed wire lead line, or the inspired popcraft of "Lives Become Lies," to know that Tommy Keene can rock timelessly in a league of his own. --Martin Keller