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COST OF LIVING
BY TED DROZDOWSKI
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Delbert McClinton is a longstanding proponent of American roadhouse music — a mix of R&B, soul, country, blues, and rock and roll. There’s a hint of the dust of his native Texas in his voice, and that makes new tunes like the desperado romance "Down into Mexico" and the booty-shaking love song "Two Step Too" as convincing as his best-known numbers, like the 1980 Top 10 song "Giving It Up for Your Love" and "B-Movie Box Car Blues," which the Blues Brothers covered. So Cost of Living, with its tales of experience, is well written and well performed, and it sustains a relaxed medium-tempo vibe. But like so many of McClinton’s studio recordings, it needs some lightning bolts — solos that jump out of the stereo, unpredictable vocal or lyric turns. Instead, it’s another solid, competent Delbert McClinton effort. Entirely listenable, even pleasing. But not exciting. Please, Delbert, you’ve got the ingredients; next time, turn up the heat.
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