"The album opens with the devastating one-two punch of the cinematic ""California""-which instantly takes it's place alongside such latter-day Cali classics as Tom Petty's ""Free Fallin',"" David & David's ""Welcome to the Boomtown,"" Beck's ""Earthquake Weather"" and Mullins' own chart-topper ""Lullaby""-and the smoldering, zeitgeist-capturing title track. In terms of their dramatic payloads, these two songs are of a piece, delving into the tattered yet resilient heart of the American Dream. The California setting, to which Mullins returns on ""Tinseltown,"" functions as a microcosm of our collective journey from wide-eyed innocence through bitter experience to the possibility of personal and collective renewal. The thematic thread runs seamlessly into ""Light You Up,"" with it's unsettling spoken verses-""Everybody wants the real deal/Everybody wants to cop a good feel/Everybody wants more money/Everybody wants a taste of your honey""-and intense choruses, as scorching as the San Fernando Valley in August, as Mullins reaches upward to break into his thrilling falsetto: ""I just want to light you up/Light you up like a fire/I just want to turn you on/Turn you on and take you higher."" Here, as elsewhere, a deeper perspective is embedded in the song's bridge, as Mullins sings, ""Yeah this old world can bring you down/Turn your smile into a frown/Break your heart and make you sad/Drive you stark raving mad."" Finally, the narrative drops away as the band launches into a surging extended rave-up, further deepening the song's emotional resonance." California, Light You Up, Murphy's Song, No Blue Sky, The Ghost of Johnny Cash, Tinsel Town, I Knew a Girl, Catoosa County, You Make It Better, Can't Remember Summer, Love Will Find a Way
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