Disappointed. One of my favorite bands, on one of my favorite labels, and the whole thing just seems so lacking in grit, so bloodless. The Bottle Rockets were never as heavy as Slobberbone or as punk rock as Lucero, but a sizable chunk of Lean Forward sounds like main man Brian Henneman's bid for mainstream pop-country stardom in comparison to some past Rockets works. The shuffling “Nothing But A Driver,” Skynyrd-esque “Hard Times,” breezy “Open Your Eyes” and Petty-but-harder “The Way It Used To Be” satisfy to an extent, and, slightly cheesy sitar break aside, the ominous “Kid Next Door” can hang with the band's best work. But several gifted other acts have risen to prominence on the Rockets' turf since '06's superior Zoysia, and it just doesn't sound like they've got the energy or the balls to take 'em all on. If Henneman and company are ready to retire to the front porch, that's fine - he's a songwriter who can do just about anything well, and Lean Forward isn't bad so much as overly clean. But they've got to realize that a lot of their fans are still expecting a few more weekends of bellying up to the bar for some more whiskey and loud-ass rock 'n' roll. - Colin Kincaid