Martin Zellar Makes a Heavy Comeback with 'Roosters Crow'

Martin Zellar and the Hardways
Roosters Crow
(Owen Lee)
Grade: B

This has got to drive an artist nuts. Martin Zellar has done a lot of stellar work, first with the Gear Daddies and later on his own, but the Minnesotan's best-known song is probably the novelty "I Wanna Drive the Zamboni," which was originally just a hidden throwaway on a Gear Daddies album.

You won't find anything so lighthearted on Roosters Crow, Zellar's first album in 10 years. Thematically, it's the downer you'd expect with titles such as "Took the Poison," "Seven Shades of Blue," and "The Skies Are Always Gray."

But as anxious, guilt-ridden, and regretful as Zellar may sound, he always skirts tedious solipsism. Helping greatly to counter the gloom is the clean, spare accompaniment, which encompasses ringing rock and rootsy touches such as Lloyd Maines' pedal steel and Dobro on selected cuts.

"I will be okay," Zellar concludes on the finale, "It Works for Me."

Works for us, too.