POP ART

With Dad Rock, Sadler Vaden crafts an album whose songs and guitar sounds recall the best days of classic rock.

- JOE BOSSO

SADLER VADEN'S NEW album, Dad Rock, is bursting with hooky, well-crafted tunes that recall the glory days of '70s classic rock and power pop, but it still sounds fresh and vital. Every song is loaded with big guitar sounds - some bright and sparkly, others snaggle-toothed and gnarly - but they're not buried in distortion. It's one of those rare records that's impossible not to like. And it doesn't wear out its welcome: Its eight songs zip by in something like 40 minutes. All steak and no fat.

"I'm not a fan of super-long records that just don't know when to stop," Vaden says.

"I grew up on my dad's record collection. He had all the great stuff from back in the day.

Sure, there were some double albums that are great, but for the most part I was a single-album guy: You'd listen to one side of the vinyl, four or five songs, and then you'd repeat on side two. Give me the best stuff and leave the rest, I say." Vaden, who for the past 20 years has held down the lead guitar spot with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, has issued two previous solo albums, but Dad Rock is his first since becoming a father (he and his wife, Candice, welcomed son Townsend in 2020, and another son, Theodore, arrived late last year). Explaining the album's title, Vaden says he was inspired by John Mayer's '80s-themed record Sob Rock and, more specifically, its promotional merchandise.