When you listen to Ryan Adams, Uncle Tupelo, the Black Crowes or a lot of alt-country acts, it seems like there's a great hipster obsession with the Flying Burrito Brothers. Having felt like I'd been duped by critics when I bought their Farther Along retrospective, I have never comprehended the fascination they cause, unless it's of a non-musical sort. Just as Anne Sexton attracts so many people (like Peter Gabriel) who otherwise may have no taste for poetry, there's nothing like a honkytonker dead from morphine and tequila to give rock fans a sudden interest in country.

Since I'm getting irritated by the "cool" factor associated with addictions, a little weariness precipitated my first listen to Medicine, which is described by the artist as an album that revolves around drinking. When young artists are so focused on singing about booze, the general reason is not because it's a picture of their daily life, but because there's an instant feeling of decadence, whether earned or not, that enters their songs at the first mention of Absolut. Just as we can't help but feel emotion in even the shittiest Holocaust movie, there's nothing like the mention of whiskey to revive those craven images of rock-and-roll we genetically desire. Of course, more weariness was present just because Ward is an unsigned artist -- something which often just proves there's justice in the world. In addition, from all the promo material, indications were that Ward put some country into his music. Undoubtedly, I knew, it would be those damn Burrito Brothers.

Well, Ward's got me looking like an ass. Working from the same spirit that enters the work of Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, Ward moves ahead of Joss as the best unsigned artist I've heard all year, and he possesses one of those deeply expressive voices which can carry songs when the lyrics can't (as with the first song and its repeated refrain, "And if I cross the line, be sure to let me know/'Cause that's somewhere I don't want to go"). His lyrics are generally great, though, and it's a rare thing when any part of his act -- the vocals, the writing, the production or the sublime guitars and drumming -- has to carry the load.

As for his depictions of alcoholism or simple heavy drinking, they are both realistic and sympathetic to the characters in his songs, and are short musical equivalents of films like Bar Fly or Trees Lounge. In one of my favorites, "All Wrong", he sings how he is "about to take you to task for all the hurtful things you said", and makes it clear he goes way beyond making declarations of how he "don't wanna drink without you, but I will if I have to." As one Amazon.Com fan deftly pointed out, the songs of Ward White are literary. You get scenes, precious dirty moments that might have been snatched off the pages of Raymond Carver, and this helps gives the songs enough color to separate themselves from the routine depressed-but-drinking tune.

Ward White is probably not for those opposed to drink, and his perspective ("Your mother called tonight, sounds like she's drinking again/But if it helped her to remember your birthday/Baby, where's the sin?") might be too generous for individuals who have seen lives ruined by such afflictions. His honesty and characterizations seem dead-on to me, though, which makes him seem like a sure bet for any label willing to give a guy named Ward a chance. -- Theodore Defosse