I Am the Albatross

With a name like I Am the Albatross, this Austin trio might be mistaken for overeducated wiseasses out to carve a new notch on the indie rock bedpost. Fortunately, that's not the case on Lonesome Son. For one, leader Jesse Berkowitz and his wingmen rock too hard, pulling riffs from the heavy end of the alt.country spectrum and the harmonious side of Seventies hard rock. Berkowitz also seems less interested in clever irony than in serious expression. The singer/guitarist makes no secret of his ambivalence over the changes his town has been through in the past decade. Angst over the evolving Austin experience powers the rollicking "Port City" and roaring "Garden" like the Holy Spirit driving a Baptist preacher. IATA occasionally overreaches (the overlong "World of Money"), but when it flies, as on "The Vine," the threesome proves its ability to rock its furrowed brow right into the ground.