Over four previous albums and numerous personnel changes, the BoDeans, from Waukesha, Wis., have explored the expansive terrain of American music – country, folk, blues, R&B, pop and rockabilly – with a restless, stubborn (and sometimes erratic) passion. On Go Slow Down, the BoDeans have rediscovered the focus that made their 1986 debut, Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams (produced by T...

For their third album, the BoDeans offer a paradox. Home is the Wisconsinites' most sophisticated and energetic album to date, yet it is also their most consciously derivative.

Since their 1986 debut, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, the BoDeans have largely been heralded for their rootsy, no-frills style. Led by the writing team of "Beau and Sammy BoDean" (singers and guitarists Kurt Neumann and Sammy...

So few roots-oriented bands manage to be accessible that there's a danger of going overboard when one comes into sight. But the BoDeans, out of Wisconsin, are one of the few – so let's go overboard a bit.

Guitarists Sammy Llanas and Kurt Newmann write tight, snappy pop songs that acknowledge tradition and then expand on it – this is no mere revivalism or wistful nostalgia. The LP opens...