Front and center Matt Newberg rides the Buffalo BY SAM PFEIFLE

Neil Young with Crazy Horse: After the Gold Rush, Live Rust, Harvest. Neil Young without Crazy Horse: Harvest Moon, Mirror Ball, Greendale. Need I say more? Good (in Young’s case, read: simple) songs are made great by great bands. Mediocre songs are made drivel by bad or absent bands. A lone singer/songwriter need be exceptional to capture the public’s attention, while a fairly generic band of guitar, bass, and drums should do all right as long as they mesh well and have some decent songs to play. As evidence, I submit that the 2003 and 2004 winners of the Singer/Songwriter category in the Best Music Poll, Jason Spooner and Adam Flaherty, have both picked up backing bands to fill out their sound and help them better explore their songwriting skills. Bands make you sound good, plain and simple.

Matt Newberg (who bagged 2002’s singer/songwriter award) seems also to have learned this lesson well. And clearly listened to a fair bit of Neil Young along the way.

For Newberg’s brand-spankin’ Buffalo, he’s traded in all but guitarist Gregg Hoover from old band Maybe Utah for drummer Darren Thiboutot and bassist Harry Bonish Jr. of the Hurricane (as in Matt Newberg and the Hurricane — great name). And now that he’s touring to support the record, he’s substituted again, picking up Darren Finnegan on bass and old-pro Jeff Glidden on drums (still the Hurricane, though, like you’d change a name that good). No matter, Newberg’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here. Rather, he continues to refine a sound that started out bluegrassy and acoustic and here on Buffalo comes into its own with a fun brand of electrified alt-country rock, often echoing the aforementioned After the Gold Rush, though not getting quite as down and dirty.

Newberg pulled out all the stops, too, recording and mastering the new record down in the home of country, Nashville, Tennessee. Donnie Skaggs and Mark Lister at Dixiana Studios did some mean work, too. The album is polished without sounding soulless, and they consistently capture gorgeous guitar sounds and a well balanced vocal mix.

He didn’t go chintzy on the material, either, fleshing out songs till they run well past the five-minute mark on five of the 10 songs here. It’s generally to his benefit, as Newberg is an above-average lyricist and many of his songs are rooted in narrative that takes time to develop. "Close Your Eyes Tom," one of the quieter songs here, features an acoustic guitar strum to open before amping up for the chorus and echoes themes of overcoming adversity and/or struggling through a mean world, which Newberg weaves through much of this album: "Tom had trouble, seeing the light/ He hated the daytime, preferred the night/ In the dark there’s less to see/ Simple darkness set him free."

The storyline carries "Tom" through its 5:32, but even though "It’ll All Be Alright" features the same sort of "we all have darkness, but some of us have to fight for the light" sentiment, and some seriously weepy slide work, the narrative isn’t as engaging and the song drags before reaching its conclusion at the 5:52 mark. It’s a wonderful ballad at three minutes.

Newberg also impresses with his arrangements. "Buffalo" opens with a cool 25-second guitar declension, finishing with some cymbals. "Alive" enters with a great G-run electric guitar breakdown. "Go Miles" begins with crisp drums supporting a lyrical electric guitar high on the fretboard. There’s an art to entering and exiting a song that Newberg has down pat.

"Cover Me," dark and centered in the thump-thump-strum rhythm Young used in "Heart of Gold," is the standout here. It’s a love song of sorts, the singer espousing a harried belief that he and his gal will stick it out. "I don’t question whose side you’re on/ Wish I knew how long I’ll be gone . . . I don’t question what’s down the line/ I have faith in you it’ll all be fine" The chorus, resplendent with backing vocals from Hoover, is pleading in its irony. "I need some room, cover me, won’t you cover me, please cover me, I’ll be back soon." If you’re so desperate, everyone can see but the singer, just don’t leave in the first place. The repeating guitar line that echoes throughout might be the gal, saying she’s heard this one before.

And, yes, you’ve heard a lot of stuff that sounds like this record before, but Newberg’s warm tenor and wry, blue-collar balladeering merit your attention.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com

Matt Newberg and the Hurricane’s Buffalo is available at local record stores.