Brand New Girlfriend (Curb, 2006)

Steve Holy hadn�t been on the country charts with any great success since �Good Morning Beautiful� in 2001. But he hit paydirt again on the title track, not a bad song with some Texas two-stepping fiddle amidst very silly lyrics (�playin' kissy-kissy, smoochy-smoochy, talkin' mooshy-mooshy bout nothin��).

And that�s indicative of the entire 13-song disc. Holy fares far better when he goes for a more traditional sound than a modern one. One of the best is his take on �Good Night to Be Lonely,� co-written by Jason Sellers.

The big ballad �Come On Rain,� showcases the power and energy of Holy�s voice, which comes off as a less gritty Tim McGraw here. The throwback sounding �All for the Love of Sunshine� finds another good performance by Holy.

But another ballad, �A Cliff in Colorado,� is sung well enough, yet the arrangement proves unimaginative. Holy does not particularly improve upon Keith Anderson�s fast-paced �Wraparound� either.

It�s almost as if he is unsure which path he wants to blaze stylistically. Maybe having three different sets of producers didn�t help establish a Holy sound. The result is an album that doesn�t always work. In this disposable age, a more identifiable sound would have served Holy better because he shows ability on more traditional material.