Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles

Packed into a tiny barn last August at the Pick-a-Thon Festival, a throng of sweaty devotees danced furiously to Langhorne Slim. When he and his band, the War Eagles, finally slowed down for a ballad, they had to compete with the crowd to make their own lyrics heard. Though that palpable energy has been toned down in his sophomore eponymous release, Langhorne's music has thankfully lost none of its infectious charm.

Langhorne's debut album, When the Sun Goes Down, paired peripatetic banjo picking with painful lyrics about love. But it was his imperfect voice that imprinted each track with intensity. His yelps, screams and scratchy growls lend life and a simple sincerity to the love songs on this self-titled album, too. In "Colette," he starts by purring, "All I wanted was a good song and a fair friend," but builds both volume and speed until the song ends with ecstatic cries of "Here she comes!" Other tracks, like "Restless," pair introspection with undeniably catchy beats. This contrast imbues the album with warmth and intimacy. After all, we've all been there: in love, dumped, in love again, broke and a little lost. Langhorne is at his best as the love-sick, honky-tonk preacher; he makes it all sound charming, rather than miserable.

But even considering the homespun sincerity, some of the tracks seem a little, dare I say it, sappy. The saccharine lyrics in "Sometimes" — "maybe that's why we love each other forever and for always" — would need a bawdier rhythm to be taken seriously. But Langhorne works in that sometimes schlocky arena. "I'm not sure that there's any other kind, but the songs I write are love songs," he says. "Some are literal, about specific events, people and relationships in my life; a form of therapy, self-help for the flowers and the shit along the road of life."

The ability to create interesting mixtures comes naturally to Langhorne. Though he is often labeled as an alt-county/bluegrass act, his roots are diverse. When asked to name his influences in an interview with Emerson College radio, he claimed, "I'm influenced by a lot of different things ... rock and roll, soul, folk, country and old R&B. If there's a name to throw all of those together, I'd go with that."

The feel-good, toe-tappin' track, "Rebel Side of Heaven," perfectly embodies this diversity by mixing ribald fun with seventies funk. Likewise, "She's Gone" and "Tipping Point" make sitting still impossible, even while Langhorne croons and yodels (yep, yodels) through painful loss. His screams, coupled with the roadhouse sounds of drummer Malachi DeLorenzo and bassist Paul DeFiglia, are the perfect remedy for any type of sorrow. The rich instrumentation complements introspective lyrics, making the music interesting and listenable.

An album this enjoyable, with all its caterwauling and funky, blues-driven beats, may inspire a new generation of broken-hearted fools to dance their way through heartache.