CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATS

Goodbye to the Rank and File

caseyneill.org

Casey Neill emerged from the Pacific Northwest, a populist folk rocker with a penchant for posturing and protest. Half a dozen albums on, Neill offers his most accomplished effort yet, one that combines his world-weary view with a dramatic delivery. The riveting “All Summer Glory,” the bittersweet ballad “Ouroboros” and the reflective “Radio Montana” are strikingly cinematic, an anthemic assortment that meshes the Everyman sentiments of John Mellencamp with the rallying cries of Bruce Springsteen and his E Street companions. Whether it’s the sentimental reflection of “When the World Was Young” or the perplexities of modern existence viewed through “This Year Was a Blur,” Neill’s focus effectively takes in all of life’s tangled trajectories.