Mannix used to be known as Oral Groove, and Pretty Strange is quite a departure from the old sound as singer/songwriter Joe Mannix has made a great leap forward, both in terms of style and songcraft. The first song on the disc is called Americana and that's an apt description of the album, as Mannix paints a musical and lyrical landscape of various American images.

Though it certainly can be considered a pop album, Pretty Strange is, in truth, more folk-based than pop based, but pop fans should embrace it because the songs are very endearing and have hardy melodies. Tracks like You Made It This Way, Don't Tell A Soul, and Pretty Strange borrow greatly from traditional American folk, and Watership Down goes one better with its British folk roots (including flute by Grip Weed Kristin Pinell). Others such as Arms Around You offer a healthy dose of jangle and cool chord changes, How Far You Fell boogie woogies with the best of them, and the Chambers Brothers (!) slants of No Longer Angry are quite remarkable. Fans of pure pop will surely dig the Heyman-ish Time Travel, with its multi-tracked vocals and harmonies as warm as a Bakersfield night, and the smooth yet walloping Shafter.

Pretty Strange is among the most interesting and mature albums you'll have heard in a long time, and one that's guaranteed to not only coax U.S. citizens to remember the American ethos, but help non-citizens to understand it.