House of a Thousand Guitars

When it comes to songwriting and living enough life to have a say, few can match singer/songwriter Willie Nile who opens this album with a tune that name checks John Lennon, Robert Johnson and Old Hank before shouting out that “Mr. John Lee Hooker’s gonna kick your ass…” After the triumph of his 2006 comeback, Streets of New York, New York City’s most eloquent and experienced rock bard returns with another collection of anthemic originals that split the difference between punk rock’s lyrical pleas for change, Springsteen’s everyman bombast, and the eye for detail and thumping heart of Washington Square folk music. Backed again by a stellar band that includes drummer Rich Pagano and guitarist Andy York, Nile rips into this assured, knowing collection of his sharply observed mini-epics highlighted by the visionary showstoppers, “Give Me Tomorrow” and “Little Light.” He also rocks out harder than usual on the Stonesy “Doomsday Dance,” and “Run” the kind of simple, likable tunes that shows again how experience has made him such an essential and impeccable song craftsman.