Stone Coyotes VIII CD

The musical development of the Stone Coyotes over their eight discs -- almost one each year since the start of the new millennium -- is evident right from the get go, opening track "Tomorrow Is Another Day"'s gritty chord changes giving singer Barbara Keith her platform to reference Gone with the Wind and Scarlett O'Hara; Keith always able to tuck a cultural icon into her unique rock & roll tales. St. Peter and John Lee Hooker get referenced in the third track, "Not Right Now," though the blues master actually becomes the hook in the song which follows a revamp of the famous "Brown Sugar" riff on "Land of the Living," a good bridge for these captivating melodic guitar phrasings. The ballad "The Lights of Home" breaks up the onslaught, the Coyotes knowing how to place the material for maximum effect. The first half-dozen compositions are solely from Keith's pen, including one of the standouts -- a slow mantra about a "magnetic pull" which puts the protagonist "in the spirit" -- "The Beat's Got a Hold on Me." It's the other side of Vicki Sue Robinson's "Turn the Beat Around," but ...