What does it take to get alt-country supergroup Golden Smog back together following an eight-year silence in studio recordings? A car. A Corvette, to be exact. According to band member (and Soul Asylum guitarist) Dan Murphy, a certain Mr. Madonna had a hand in the reformation as well. "Marc Perlman received a call in an attempt to get Golden Smog to write a song for a Guy Ritchie-produced Corvette commercial," Murphy says. As it turns out, the song recorded for that commercial, simply called "Corvette," was enough to fuel the desire of the various members - Gary Louris and Perlman (Jayhawks), Murphy, Kraig Jarrett Johnson (Run Westy Run), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) - to adjust their schedules and complete a full album. A logistical nightmare, to be sure, but a fulfilling result, as Another Fine Day is the perfect addition to a roots-rock fan's collection, fitting nicely between the Ryan Adams and Neil Young CDs.

The combo's third full-length album features 15 tracks that mix and mesh the different styles of the performers into a smorgasbord of sound. The title track, as well as the feedback-filled "Beautiful Mind," resemble Summerteeth-era Wilco, while album closer "Think about Yourself" sounds like the prototypical Jayhawks track. Louris and Tweedy double up on the vocals of "Listen Joe," a sad, acoustic-guitar based number, and a cover of Dave Davies' "Strangers," before getting deeper in the album and delving into the past, echoing circa-1965 garage rock on "Frying Pan Eyes." Recorded over a year in two polar-opposite locales - the south of Spain and Minneapolis - surprisingly, Another Fine Day's final cuts don't indicate the piecemeal situation in which they were put together. Now if only they string together some live dates.
- James Mayfield