The Jayhawks

With their final record, the Jayhawks forgo the commercial impulse of mid-career LPs and return to folksy rockers that channel Gram Parsons and Graham Nash. Sadly, most of Gary Louris' tunes lack the grit that made early records so vital, and even if the verse of "Eyes of Sarah Jane" could've been lifted from Hollywood Town Hall, the chorus feels overdone. When Louris says that "You're in a tailspin, running out of your head," it might be self-assessment for a great band that never found the wide audience they pursued, and ended its career here with a lackluster swan song.