Chuck Prophet

Backed by a local lineup featuring Alex Chilton bassist Rene Coman and co-producer Jim Dickinson, Stuart and Prophet immersed themselves in Memphis ambience to record the loose and likable Here Come the Snakes, an overtly Stonesy record that travels the backroads of American music to fine effect. Again switching easily among rock, blues and country idioms, what's left of Green on Red sounds relaxed and confident, a warm and boozy vehicle for Stuart's amusingly wry regrets and social observations. For once, Green on Red has realized its downwardly mobile ambitions.

Green on Red named one of its three earlier, independent-label albums The Killer Inside Me — the title of a novel by Jim Thompson, a '50s crime writer who built a cult reputation describing characters who are quietly but unmistakably deranged. The people in the band's songs are likewise deranged; beneath their down-home American exterior lies an abyss of wildness and despair on This Time Around. The husband in ''Good Patient Woman'' apologizing to his stalwart wife for a lifetime of failure is about to go upstairs and shoot himself. And the man in ''This Time Around,'' who finally finds his perfect woman, observes: ''She bites my toes and makes me shiver.'' Note, though, that a lot of these songs are amusing, too. ''Foot,'' for instance, is about a sideshow attraction, someone with the largest feet in captivity.
The band's music — a wiry blend of roots rock and country — is the perfect vehicle for conveying both humor and the chill wind of dismay. It jabs at its targets, sometimes lurching in unexpected directions. The beat and melodies are strong, though; the music always lands solidly. As if to prove how tough it is, the band recorded this entire album live, with no remixing or overdubs. Maybe that's why, even in a few distinctly minor songs, the album never loses its edge.