Another fine upcoming release (August 27) is Escalator by The Coal Men. The release will be the band’s fourth album but their first on Todd Snider’s label, Aimless Records. Unless I’m mistaken, I think The Coal Men’s new one will be the label’s first release by an artist other than Todd. He released Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables and Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker in 2012. And Live: The Storyteller recorded at Nashville’s TPAC was released in 2011.

The core of the band is guitarist / vocalist Dave Coleman and drummer Dave Ray. Coleman’s vocals even have a Todd sound from time to time during the album though clearly the record is not a Todd Snider sounding one. Coleman has built a solid music network within Music City. Among others who contributed, Will Kimbrough added his guitar gifts to the recording.

You’ll get your dollar’s worth with this one. The album has 13 full-length and quality songs. One thing that really caught my ear in the first couple of listens was the diversity of song styles, instruments used and vocal inflections.

• Last Goodbye – the lead-off track is a strong one. I’m admittedly not the best on picking up on specific instrument types, chord progressions, lyric composition, etc. But I do know what I like. Goodbye has a bit of what I’d call a Marshall Crenshaw vibe – and you can enable “repeat track” without worry.

• Stuck – The band made a great choice by slotting Stuck behind the upbeat opener. A strong song that’s certainly “thicker” than Goodbye. And the chucka-chucka-chucka guitar riff? Ohh yeaahh, berry, berry nice.

• Role Model – This song was initially my favorite track or certainly the one I’ve found myself cranking the loudest because of Coleman’s thrashing guitar work and Ray’s solid drumming with a healthy dose of cymbals. Bonus points for the horn accompaniment!

• Tennessee – Sure, I freely admit I’m a homer and that I’m partial to the song title. So sue me. But this song is truly an enjoyable one – though one of the more contemplative songs on the album. Just as Stuck was appropriately slotted behind Last Goodbye, I think another solid decision was made with the Role Model – Tennessee sequencing.