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As mainstream country continues wildly groping for an identity, perhaps everyone should consider the Wrights, an unassuming Georgia husband-and-wife duo who provide a pleasant alternative to country music's popular archetypes — outlaw revivalists, Jimmy Buffett clones and thin women with thin voices.

Family bands are archetypal, too, of course. But there's a big difference between the Johnny and June of yesteryear and the Tim and Faith of today. The Wrights smartly locate the middle ground, delivering traditional country songs laced with playful sexuality and earnest small-town pride. They evoke the South without getting too corny about it. They harmonize naturally. They seem crazy in love but decline to fill our ears with gooey pillow talk.

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The Wrights
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COUNTRY The Wrights "Down This Road." ACR/RCA. 12 tracks. Grade: B+ Online: thewrightsmusic.com/

The Wrights — Adam and Shannon — both write, play and sing. Adam is Alan Jackson's nephew, which may account for some of the duo's musical sensibilities. Still, the Wrights seem willing to trade Jackson's gloss for a more homespun feel. Their album does not feel hit-oriented. It feels like a cohesive set of songs that came together organically during songwriting sessions at the kitchen table. The Wrights may not be the future of country, but they're definitely a steadying force in a tumultuous genre.

— Nick Marino

Also out today

"534" from rapper Memphis Bleek; "We Are the Radio" from Stones-loving indie rockers Brian Jonestown Massacre; "Loco Motive" hick-hop from Cowboy Troy; "Georgia Hard" from alt-country singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks; "You're Speaking My Language" from actress Juliette Lewis' rock band, Juliette & the Licks; "The Secret Migration" from avant pop rockers Mercury Rev; "Magic Time" from longtime singer/songwriter Van Morrison; "Mezmerize" from smart hard-rockers System of a Down; "American Idol 4: The Showstoppers," a song each from the 12 finalists from this "Idol" season.