I can't give you much on Stigers's bio or tour dates because his website has an annoying Flash introduction that resizes my browser window. This is a big turn-off. Fortunately you don't need the official website - you can listen to extended samples at CD Baby.

The opening track, "Do You Feel High," with its fuzzed out guitars, sounds a bit like a sped up Steve Miller song with an unexpected change in elevation during the chorus. "Another Negotiation" is a short and sweet high-energy rocker, with a strange, quiet little coda that leads into the Beatle-esque ballad "Only Wanna Be With You," which is where the heart and soul of the album begins. "We Don't Need Anybody" returns to the hard rock tip but in a soul-infused Southern rock vein, like Lynyrd Skynyrd filtered through Elton John. "Comin' Back Again" features crying guitars, as in an Eric Clapton or Strawbs soft-rock ballad, cushioning another timeless-sounding melody.

"Marlena" is a highlight, a startlingly groovy neo-soul tune sung in a fluid falsetto, and the CD closes with "That Ain't Livin'," another hard driving southern-soul rocker. Stigers's solid songwriting and his fine voice and band keep the whole thing on course. Musical comparisons aside, this CD is a whole lot of fun, and isn't that the main point of rock anyway?

This seems to be my month to discover famous musicians' brothers going successfully in different directions - in my last column I reviewed Zack Hexum's new CD - but more importantly, it seems to be a year for good, well-written new pop and rock CDs. I don't envy reviewers who have to cover major label releases in those genres. Right here is where it's at.

OUT AND ABOUT: Mala Waldron appears live as part of my Soul of the Blues series in Brooklyn NY next Thursday, June 8, and Scott Weis performs at the next show, this one at Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC, on the 28th... Katell Keineg makes a couple of NYC and LA appearances this month. I plan to be at the NYC shows at Joe's Pub on the 20th and the Living Room on the 30th.

Come on out and introduce yourself. (Not while Katell's playing, though, or I'll punch you.) I'll be the one with the beatific, rapt look. But come to think of it, that won't work - everyone else in the audience will have the same glazed, worshipful expression. Anyway, look for a profile of Katell in the New York Times Magazine at the end of June.