THE CD: “Bastardos!” (Vanguard Records)
PERFORMER: Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler claims that its eighth album, “Bastardos!” is only for them. We’re welcome to listen to it, of course, but the point was to satisfy the band’s innermost musical urges. For the most part, their selfishness is fruitful.

“Bastardos!” (excuse us, we can’t get the computer to reproduce the upside-down exclamation point that goes in front of the Spanish epithet) is indeed a departure from the controlled-chaos pop the band progessively embraced following 1994’s breakthrough album, “Four.” In songs like “Amber Awaits,” the band successfully revisits its jam-band origins with a hollow, bootleg-like sound and scale-climbing riffs.

They also explore an R&B side that suits them well. The funky ballad “She and I” is a trumpet and rock organ-fueled infusion of Otis Redding and Sly and the Family Stone. “That Which Doesn’t Kill You” is clearly underpinned by the Isley Brothers, from the springy slap bass to singer John Popper’s semi-breathy crooning.

But this song is also indicative of the album’s shortcomings. Popper’s drawn out and random harmonica solo, while illustrative of his superb talent, is a standard — and thus worn — feature of Blues Traveler songs. Moreover, Popper’s lyrics are the same cliche and obscure rhyme-laden tales of love and woe they’ve always been, often to his detriment. I adore the name “Nefertiti,” but it lacks the aural appeal to build a song around. Popper disagrees.

In fact, instrumental and stylistic exploration aside, the songs are largely built on the band’s classic musical structure: snappy verses followed by a driving chorus, all centered around Popper’s singing. Although enjoyable, “Bastardos!” is only slightly different from the band’s other albums, leading one to wonder if they haven’t been doing what they wanted to all along.

– By Morgan Kelly

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