Son Volt: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitars, bouzouki, piano); Brad Rice (electric guitar, baritone guitar, E-bow, electric sitar); Derry Deborja (piano, organ, keyboards); Andrew Duplantis (bass instrument, background vocals); Dave Bryson (drums, percussion).

Personnel: Shannon McNally (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Eric Heywood (pedal steel guitar); Chris Deusinger (saxophone); Keith Moyer (trumpet).

A dozen years down the line from the great alt-country schism that found Uncle Tupelo splintering into Jay Farrar's Son Volt and Jeff Tweedy's Wilco, the former gives the notoriously boundary-pushing Wilco a run for its money. While Son Volt was initially the rootsier band, the evolution that led to THE SEARCH finds the group at its most expansive. After personnel shakeups and solo projects, Farrar is the only remaining original member, and he takes advantage of the tabula rasa moment to reinvent the Son Volt sound. The twangy rock of yore is laced here with a bevy of unexpected sonic flavors: a soul horn section, atmospheric keyboards, psychedelic guitar effects, and more. Framing Farrar's ever-impressionistic lyrics, it all adds up to a bold new direction for a band that's traveled a long, rough road.

Spin (p.90) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'Slow Hearse' unfolds reverently with expansive, graceful piano, Beatles-esque guitar, and a sublime melodic hook."

Magnet (p.110) - "The classic '50s doo-wop guitar riff of 'Highways And Cigarettes' evokes the golden glow of a Southwestern back road at sunset."

No Depression (p.106) - "[Farrar] touches upon foreign, domestic and societal issues in his generally oblique observations, set to melodies and rhythms that are alternately savaging and soothing."