Reigning Sound

★★★★

A Little More Time With…

MERGE. CD/DL/LP

The garage-rock Dan Penn returns to Memphis In the ’90s, Greg Cartwright plied Memphis rock’n’roll with trashy no-fi attitude in Compulsive Gamblers and Oblivians. In the 2000s, his Reigning Sound’s rock’n’soul was approachable, 2005’s comp Home For Orphans dazzling with unforeseen balladry. Touring an HFO reissue in early 2020, he re-enlisted the backing trio responsible, who’d been replaced by Brooklynites in 2009 after a move to Asheville, NC. Once Covid hit, with New York on lockdown, his latest LP was made with the Tennessee group, in Memphis. Whether it’s the homecoming or just universal pre-pandemic longings, there’s an extra sparkle about this seventh Reigning Sound LP. Combining supreme craftsmanship and emotional oomph, Cartwright’s songs span love-rekindling powerpop (Let’s Do It Again), Big Star-y swing (Oh Christine) and pedal-steel desperation (Moving & Shaking). For all the grown-up entanglements and era-specific worries, it’s championship-winning stuff.