Trace

1	Windfall 2:58
2	Live Free 3:13
3	Tear Stained Eye 4:21
4	Route 3:57
5	Ten Second News 3:57
6	Drown 3:20
7	Loose String 3:48
8	Out Of The Picture 3:50
9	Catching On 4:02
10	Too Early 4:29
11	Mystifies Me 4:12

Barnes & Noble

In many ways, Son Volt is the quintessential midwestern American band. Guitarist/vocalist Jay Farrar and drummer Mike Heidorn -- two-thirds of alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo--hail from Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis, and bassist/vocalist Jim Boquist and his multi-instrumentalist brother Dave live in Minneapolis. The songs on TRACE, written by Farrar after he relocated to New Orleans, offer glimpses of sights, sounds, and stories picked up along the way, including "Windfall," an ode to upright citizens whose unfulfilled dreams don't deter their progress through life with "both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel." There's also "Route" and "Loose String," a pair of slashing rockers, and a fine acoustic number, "Tear Stained Eye." Farrar hasn't changed much since his stint with Tupelo, but he's operating at a sufficiently high level that it scarcely matters. His lyrics are often deeply coded, yet these songs are rich and profound, and they warrant the time required to unlock their meanings. Daniel Durchholz

All Music Guide

Jay Farrar always provided the darkest, grittiest moments in Uncle Tupelo, so it comes as no surprise that SON VOLT is a rawer record than A.M., the first album by Wilco, a band led by his former partner Jeff Tweedy. Throughout {|Son Volt|}'s debut, Trace, the group reworks classic honky tonk and rock & roll, adding a desperate, determined edge to their performances. Even when they rock out, there is a palpable sense of melancholy to Farrar's voice, which lends a poignancy to the music. Trace isn't a great step forward from Tupelo's last album, the lovely Anodyne, but it is a fine continuation of the ideas Farrar has pursued over the course of his career. Stephen Thomas Erlewine