Steve Poltz: Dreamhouse

Former Rugburn and San Diego elder statesman, Steve Poltz, is back with another collection of tuneful indie-folk ditties called Dreamhouse. It is safe to say that no new ground is broken here, no earth is shattered, and no paradigms are subverted. What we have is the strummy, smart-guy pop of the kind that keeps Brendan Benson in cigarettes and skinny t-shirts, so one can’t help but wish that a Jack White-type would come out of the woodwork and provide Poltz a similar career boost. Poltz, for his part, doesn’t cry about it. He keeps it real by releasing his efforts on his own 98 Pounder imprint and recording and selling each and every live show he plays, which is nothing to sneeze at, considering the man is on the road at least a third of every year. Standout tracks on Dreamhouse include “License Plate Eyes”, “Wish the Wind” and an arresting and non-ironic take on Streisand’s “The Way We Were”.