You can tell a lot about someone by the company he keeps and the records in his collection. Mark McKay chose to make Shimmer, his third album, with a small combo that includes producer/guitarist Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, who, more often than not, gives albums he works on the adrenalized honesty of a live performance. As for the music McKay values, the Washington, D.C., native has appeared on albums paying tribute to Uncle Tupelo, John Fogerty and Mike Nesmith.
McKay’s own sound is straightforward and unpretentious. On engaging rockers such as “Stay Around” and “Rain (Like A Hallelujah)”, McKay and Ambel keep the guitar-based garage-rock raw and crank the volume up to levels that would peel wallpaper. Meanwhile, downtempo fare such as “Sweet Temptation” and “Nashville” and the ominous “Full Moon Eyes” spotlight McKay’s ability to tell a story without revealing too much. There’s just enough to entice listeners to spin the disc again to fill in the details themselves.
Not everything here works. “Mercedes” has a terrific southern-fried groove but seems tossed-off lyrically. As for McKay’s take on Lucinda Williams’ “Side Of The Road” — there’s that good taste once again — it’s an appealing idea to hear a song with such starkly vulnerable lyrics sung by a man for a change, but his version can’t really improve on Williams’ own near-perfect reading.