Kyle Cox shows on his album The Plan, The Mess that songwriting is far from dead. With a vocal delivery and songwriting style similar to Jackson Browne, Cox wanders through a group of country-tinged rock songs. Much the way Dawes have looked off of Browne’s paper the last few years, Cox can’t help but show the FM acoustic rock style on songs like “Old City Train” and “No Future” and especially on “Bring Us To Our Best.”

The record is far from one dimensional however, some grimey guitar boogie shows up on the barstool rattling “You’ve Got That Something” where Cox lets his vocals loose then he goes into piano ballad territory on “Just What I Need.” There is some sappy acoustic plucking on “I Found Love” but throughout the whole album there is much more love lost than found. With lyrics like “I found love and it’s not been kind” and the song “Come & Go” ending with the line “I regret loving you” you can tell there is more than a little heartbreak stored on The Plan, The Mess. Taking a fresh take on the subject, the leadoff song “I Ain’t Been Lonely Until I Met You” has the most punch of anything here with the aura of vintage Whiskeytown and even has soaring harp breaks to drive the point home.

Key Tracks: “I Ain’t Been Lonely Until I Met You” “You’ve Got That Something”

Smart musicians cater to vinyl lovers and the Kyle Cox camp is doing their part. If you order Kyle Cox’s double LP The Plan, The Mess you will get an email with a full digital download within 24 hours. True artists want to do everything they can to please their listeners and it creates a more intimate listening experience. Supporting artists who understand this is important.