On her second solo album, Lorette Velvette has remained true to the undisciplined nature of the Panther Burns' credo. After playing in bands with both Tav Falco and Alex Chilton, and after recording loose roots and blues with her bands the Hellcats and Alluring Strange, Velvette's solo records bring to mind the dusty ramblings of that notable Arizona eccentric, Howe Gelb. Velvette has the same sporadic brilliance, the offbeat singing voice, and a shared affection for imperfection. Her music is neither polished nor produced for the most part but, then again, it's not meant to be. It's raw, inspired, and natural. Don't Crowd Your Mind kicks the record off with great promise, sounding like a garage-Sonic Youth (with Velvette channeling Kim Gordon) but her crooning on the next track, Oh, How It Rained, is fragile and out of tune, and a full four minutes of it literally stops the CD in its tracks. Some of the slower songs work well, as in the piano driven cover of Why Don't You Do Right and the eerie, experimental Wash Your Hands that builds to a gorgeous instrumental cacophony finish. The title song, Dream Hotel, is a haunting escapee from a David Lynch soundtrack, and the roots rockers Kokomo Blues and Memphis Minnie's Black Rat Swing display her ability to blow the roof off -- the latter even manages to approximate a Jerry Lee Lewis piano solo with a jerky, growling electric guitar! Overall, the mixture of these off-kilter rockers and her wobbling, dusty croon strikes a slightly uneasy balance. Yet there is a little of everything in the record, so it's likely no two listeners will enjoy -- or dislike -- the same songs. ~ JT Lindroos, Rovi

1		Don't Crowd Your Mind
2		Oh, How It Rained
3		The Only One
4		Kokomo Blues
5		Why Don't You Do Right?
6		I'm Down
7		Black Rat Swing
8		Busy Bee
9		Rude Angel
10		Wash Your Hands
11		Dream Hotel
12		Theda
13		Somewhere in the Back of Your Mind