Jefferson Truett

Jefferson Truett

Lacuna For the uninitiated, Jefferson Truett is a band. They've been gigging around Austin for the past three years at places like Ego's and the Carousel Lounge, wisely building their skills before getting it down on tape. Lacuna is a simile for respite, a break, something almost every band in town is searching for. An interesting choice for an album title, and one would hope that a similar cleverness extends to Jefferson Truett's music. Unfortunately, it doesn't, though not for a lack of trying. Lacuna recalls thousands of other alt.country bands: lots of jangly guitars, the occasional fiddle, steel and banjo, and earnest, if undistinguished, vocals. Echoes of disparate performers such as the Bodeans, Loose Diamonds, Steve Earle, and Damon Bramblett are sprinkled throughout. Exactly what makes Jefferson Truett distinctive, however, is a bit cloudy. The hard-charging "Hallelujah Bound" is just under three minutes, a cloud of dust and twangy as hell, while "Always Bad" is easy, swinging, hook-filled fun. Both offer glimmers of hope, but Townes Van Zandt's "White Freight Liner Blues," a cliché among roots rockers given a lifeless run-through here, is definitely symptomatic of what's wrong with Lacuna.