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Nothing stands out on Dierks Bentley's second album — and that's a compliment.

Your average country album these days sounds like a gathering of a few singles padded with a heaping helping of filler. On the follow-up to his platinum debut, Bentley starts strong with his current single "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do," and just never lets up.

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Modern Day Drifter
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COUNTRY Dierks Bentley "Modern Day Drifter." Capitol. 11 tracks. Grade: A-

His 2003 introduction was a refreshing blast of honky-tonk traditionalism amid a Nashville assembly line of slick, pop-leaning cheese. His regular-guy demeanor, resonant voice and fascination with whiskey, women and wheels remain just as potent on "Modern Day Drifter," but he's gathered an even stronger batch of songs.

Bentley keeps things country from beginning to end. It's his way with a ballad that really shows his disregard for the pop conventions of mainstream Nashville. He keeps the schmaltz factor low on tracks like "Good Things Happen" and the poignant "Gonna Get There Someday" by wrapping the sentiment in fiddles and pedal steel guitars. Why use syrupy string arrangements when you can mass a few fiddles together?

The ballads tell the tale, but it's the swing and sawdust he injects into the upbeat tracks that will have you hitting the repeat button — or longing for an icy brew. The swinging "Domestic, Light and Cold" is the best beer 'n' break-up song since Alan Jackson revived the Jim Ed Brown classic "Pop a Top" back in 1999. And "So So Long," a rollicking kiss-off to a cheating lover, has the electric sting of early Dwight Yoakam.

The Academy of Country Music handed Bentley its top new artist award last year. With "Modern Day Drifter," he delivers on that promise.

— Shane Harrison

Also out today

"What I Really Mean" from Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen; former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant's "Mighty Rearranger"; "Gimme Fiction," the latest from Austin, Texas-based Spoon; "Team Sleep," the eponymous debut from a side project by the Deftones' Chino Moreno; "Live @ the Fillmore West," a two-disc set from Lucinda Williams; and Van Zant's "Get Right With the Man," a country collaboration between brothers Johnny and Donnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special.