Can an album named for a variety of apple be reviewed using almost every apple cliche known to man? Read on to find out dear readers… if you’re hard-core enough (you know, like an apple!).

Clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as Mike Doughty, the one-time Soul Coughing singer has proved by releasing another solid solo outing, this time for new label ATO. And there’s nothing rotten here. Beneath the fleshy skin of its 11 tracks lies sweet and tasty folk-pop that’s equal parts clever lyrics, soulful melodies, and hip-hop vocal phrasing. “Golden Delicious” may be filled with empty calories, but it sure does taste good.

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, so too does “Nectarine,” not an apple, but a fruitily-titled track from the record all the same, and one of its highlights. Also of note are “Fort Hood” with it’s chorus borrowed from “Hair,” “I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep on Dancing” (presumably because she’s the apple of Doughty’s eye), and “I Wrote a Song About Your Car” (presumably not a lemon, and hopefully cherry).

There’s also a nice version of “27 Jennifers” which first appeared on 2003’s “Rockity Roll.” “I went to school with 27 Jennifers,” Doughty sings in the opening lines of the track. “16 Jenns, 10 Jennies, and then there was her.” Comparing the new track to the original would be like comparing apples to apples, though we will add that this new version has a “Jump”-style keyboard solo that is Van-tastic.

How ’bout them apples?

Mike Doughty - “I Want the Girl in the Blue Dress To Keep On Dancing”

See the video for “27 Jennifers”:

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