“Radio songs make me think of you” is just one of many ear-catching lines from Streamline, the solo debut from ex-Volebeat Robert McCreedy. It’s also a line that evokes a sentiment that went cliche a long time ago but fits this album perfectly: In an ideal world, McCreedy’s songs would be all over the radio. McCreedy enhances his roots-and-country-conscious rock with the intangible known as an Ace Pop Sensibility, that slippery thing no one can define, but you sure know it when you hear it.
Aw, who am I kidding? The contents of Streamline are so flash-free (it’s as unassuming as an album featuring lute and optigan could possibly be) that even ideal-world radio might not program its tunes, and what a shame that’d be. What Streamline lacks in pyrotechnics, it more than makes up for with old-fashioned values such as hummable melodies, sturdy hooks, and smartly constructed songs.
Every cut offers something to recommend it, be it the beginning-to-end catchiness of “Diana” or producer Mike Daly’s understated mandolin on “Gone Again”. Then you’ve got the Vulgar Boatmen-like spell cast by “Holding On”; the clever, pensive chorus of the Steve Wynn-ish “Emily”; and the pedal steel-meets-mellotron adventures of “Something’s Wrong”.
And yeah, Raul Malo is probably not losing sleep over McCreedy’s singing, but his vocals do have a next-stool-over friendliness, like the voice of the guy who’s buying the next round. Or the guy who’s making fine music that not enough people will hear.