Lone justice had to change. Its 1985 debut revealed an astonishingly mature new band and a blockbuster talent in irrepressible singer and primary songwriter Maria McKee. But in a year when American roots rock was the hip genre of choice, Lone Justice's brash (and accessible) music was shamefully underappreciated. So change it has. The band has been completely overhauled – McKee is one of only...

If you want to hear great original music without having to buy cheap foreign imports, there's just one place to go: West, young man. Lone Justice is the latest major-label contender on the growing list of left-coast bands who possess a panoramic vision and a thoroughgoing passion for American roots music. The band also has an unassailably original voice in Maria McKee, its sweet-and-sassy singer...