Music: Always Never The Same

Veteran country crooner Strait is like that old reliable pickup truck parked on your gravel driveway, the one that starts every time you turn the ignition key, without fail, no matter how cold a morning it is. His new album is straight Strait, traditional my-heart’s-been-broke country, without frills or filler. The lyrics revel in comfortably familiar country contradiction: “I ain’t missin’ you/ That’s a lie, and that’s the truth,” he sings on one track. This is a short CD–in typically spare Strait fashion, there are just 10 songs–but that’s all you need to get you by. If you’re looking to take a country jaunt, riding shotgun with Strait is a good way to go.

–By Christopher John Farley