When Todd Snider lets the pure energy of his music run free, there's nothing better. Consider "Slim Chance," the first track on "The Excitement Plan," to be released Tuesday. The passion of the tale is told with little more than acoustic strings, a harmonica and Snider's raw, smoky voice. There's such a pureness in the sound, it's tough to believe it's not being sung in a honky-tonk somewhere between Tennessee and Mississippi.

There's little doubt that Snider can tell a great story, which is why he's lauded as one of the best singer-songwriters of our day by critics, including one at the New Yorker who likened Snider to a "cracked cousin of the Drive-By Truckers or maybe a kid Woody Guthrie had out of wedlock with Moms Mabley."

That's a perfect way to describe Snider's sound as heard on standout tracks such as the harmonica-heavy, steel-guitar-laden "Bring 'Em Home." Or the duet with Loretta Lynn on "Don't Tempt Me."

If there's one sour note to Snider's latest effort, it's perhaps the slick production on tracks such as "Barefoot Champagne." Here's hoping Snider shuts the door on whatever tech gizmos come his way and lets his world-weary voice and impeccable guitar work do the talking.

-- Nancy Dunham, Weekend (June 2009)