Miranda Lambert

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”

(Sony/BMG Nashville)

Debut albums are relatively easy. When few know who you are, it adds up to lower expectations.

Now second albums, after you’ve made something of a name for yourself, those are harder. The bar gets set much higher.

Miranda Lambert would know. The 2003 “Nashville Star” finalist came out of the box fast with her 2005 debut “Kerosene.” The then-teenager’s album debuted at No. 1 on the country charts (only the sixth new artist ever to do so) and earned her Grammy, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music award nominations along with much critical acclaim.

That left Lambert in the position of having to write songs for what would become her second album on a timetable while touring and promoting “Kerosene.”

Apparently the Texan works well under pressure, because “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” will keep Lambert’s star rising.

Lambert, now 23, wrote eight of the 11 songs on the album, with the highlights up-tempo numbers such as “Gunpowder & Lead,” “Guilty in Here” and the title cut.

She also did an admirable job in selecting songs to cover, choosing tunes by Gillian Welch, Carlene Carter and Old Town’s own Patty Griffin.

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” proves that if Miranda Lambert is crazy, she’s crazy like a fox.

– DALE McGARRIGLE

Travis

“The Boy With No Name”

(Sony)

Although 1999’s “The Man Who” was actually Travis’ second album, it was the first that nearly everybody in Britain bought, garnered the band a hatful of awards, and seemed to usher in a new mood in British music. Some people would say that Travis has a lot to answer for: Coldplay, Keane, Snow Patrol, Starsailor and who knows how many others, who mined the melancholy vein that Fran Healy uncovered.

Of course it’s unfair to blame Travis entirely for the sins of others. The fact that British mope-rock outstayed its welcome several years ago is not entirely down to these bandmates – not least since they themselves haven’t released any substantial new material since 2003’s “12 Memories,” which itself departed somewhat from what had become a fairly formulaic genre. Still, “12 Memories” turned out to be merely a side excursion for the band and this album finds them back in overly familiar territory.

Despite a strong start with the rolling, hypnotic “3 Times and You Lose” and the Iggy-meets-The Supremes groove of the new single “Selfish Jean,” Travis seems to run out of steam quickly here. The band still has the ability to sidle out from behind a wall of humdrum and mug you with a slither of beauty, but those slithers seem somehow less sharp than before, and much of “The Boy With No Name” sounds like it was written on autopilot.

This is not to say Travis has become a dull band. In fact it is probably just as good as it has ever been and a decade ago this would have been a truly fine album. The problem is that the band is no longer exceptional. When Travis first came to prominence, it was a fragile island in a morass of Oasis-styled lad-rock. Now the band itself is just part of a pack consisting of the countless clones it spawned. Admittedly, many of these clones are far less engaging than Travis, but still you can’t help but wish the band would take more chances. The same old stuff just isn’t quite good enough anymore.

– ADAM CORRIGAN

Mark Olson

“Salvation Blues”

(HackTone)

Few of the artists who pioneered the alt-country genre nearly 20 years ago have kept faith with their patron saint Gram Parsons the way Mark Olson has.

Olson, a founding member of the now-split Jayhawks, left the band in 1995 and formed a rustic folk outfit with his then-wife, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams. When Olson’s marriage dissolved in 2005, he found himself truly solo.

A trip to England to stay with writer friends, who played him lots of English folk music records, got the creative juices flowing and produced some of the better songs Olson has penned in years.

Spartan in their use of imagery, speaking of emotions rubbed raw, the songs that make up “Salvation Blues” tap into the wellspring of country: heartbreak, loneliness and resignation.

Olson’s voice has never been his strength, and he’s always leaned more heavily on phrasing to be expressive, but here, he just sings. He’s now got a disarming, childlike style (perhaps his ex-wife Williams’ influence) which seems to match perfectly the emotional tenor of these songs. And at times, he’s a ringer for Parsons.

Unlike Parsons, Olson’s lyrics are postmodern, and he attempts – with varying results – to find intuitive connections between emotion and words. When he hits the mark, the lyrics are plain-spoken poetry.

Though the songs would work just fine with only an acoustic guitar, the more considered production adds significantly to the richness. There’s blended vocal harmonies, a sweet pedal steel riding above the mix, a dash of drums and a splash of electric guitar. Nice.

– TOM GROENING

Hellyeah

“Hellyeah”

(Epic)

In an era of supergroups, band members from Mudvayne and Nothingface took an opportunity to celebrate the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, convincing drummer Vinnie Paul from Pantera and Damageplan to join them, and, oh yeah, record an album.

Hellyeah’s self-titled effort makes no excuses for its embrace of the old-school rock lifestyle. The first cut on the album, the anthem “Hellyeah,” puts it right out there: “I’ll be smokin’ and drinkin’ and breaking [expletive] bones.” So be warned: If it isn’t immediately clear that Hellyeah wants to pay tribute to whiskey, bad attitudes and similar debauchery, it is.

Straightforward rock-metal stylings and fairly basic lyric metaphors dominate this collaboration, which gives nod to acoustic sounds (“Alcohaulin’ Ass”) and thrash (“Nausea”). However, this is not the melodic metal of Mudvayne nor the frantic sound produced by Pantera. “Hellyeah” is a good-time rock-metal album, and the party atmosphere prevails.

Vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbet (Mudvayne) have fun with Paul, guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano (Nothingface), but for listeners hoping to headbang along, “Hellyeah” doesn’t have the bite of its members’ main groups. Mudvayne fans will crave another listen of “L.D. 50” after hearing Gray’s vocals, but Heallyeah doesn’t care. It invites everyone with a “bruised attitude” to scream along.

– JUDY LONG