Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers – Glassjaw Boxer

Stephen Kellogg and his cohorts are in a tradition of polished, street-level rockers who shape the poetics of everyday life as lived by regular folks into anthemic dimensions. Depending on your reference points, that can be a good thing, or a neutral thing. Australian Paul Kelly finds greater mystery in the world around him; Graham Parker still walks on hot coals in his mid-50s. Kelloggs efforts tend to be rather tightly controlled; when he writes a good line, he often parades it around for too long, dropping him into the ranks of Mellencamp and Matthews. However, even when theyre being obvious, Kellogg and band do so with such commitment, the punch and flow of the set carries the day.