By Dustin Verburg – General Manager/Producer: The Negative Zone

Dan Sartain’s latest album, Dan Sartain Lives, is many things. It is not a garage punk album, a psychedelic rock album, a rockabilly album, a blues album or a 60s revival album. It is, however, an expression of how all of these things collide together in the world of Dan Sartain. Sartain knows exactly how to harness his likes and influences and produce exactly the kind of song he wants to write, and the outcome is rock and roll in its purest form.

The record’s opener, Those Thoughts, is a stomping rocker adorned with psychedelic Middle Eastern guitar flourishes and palpable paranoia. The album effortlessly moves into Doin’ Anything I Say, a slinky and assertive mid-tempo number with unforgettable riffs and vocal hooks that exudes such timelessness that, for all of its nods to vintage sounds, feels nothing but contemporary.

This pattern continues throughout the album. Walk Among the Cobras is spooky, fast and threatening. Atheist Funeral is a throat-punching fight song bristling with switchblades. Ruby Carol is a restrained and tasteful love song. Each song is different, each song is deliberate and each song serves its own unique purpose. Sartain doesn’t use any certain formula or gimmick, but his sound belongs solely to him. The album’s content is just as broad as its sound. Sartain tackles religion, love, free will and the future.

Above all, Sartain’s vocals and guitar playing are confident. He knows precisely what he wants to accomplish, and he has the talent to pull it off. He doesn’t rely on any single genre or idea to propel his songwriting, but he uses many genres and ideas liberally. Sartain is aggressive without posturing, he croons without relying on retro clichés and he never goes overboard with his considerable guitar skills. Dan Sartain made the exact album he wanted to make, and, all subgenres and categorization aside; it’s one of the best rock albums of 2010.

Order Dan Sartain Lives at One Little Indian.