Doghouse Flowers

Jon Ashley’s Doghouse Flowers is an earnest collection of depressed country songs that tell tales of pretty much every woman who has done him wrong. He sings in 180 proof, and his voice perpetually sounds like it’s on the verge of an emotional collision with a honky-tonk band. That said, it’s sad, angry and self-deprecating and might be the finest country album in a long time. Back to back, Ashley hits you with the wonderfully miserable “Bad Enough Alone” and “The Whole Bed,” both of which are downhearted meditations on failed marriage. While Ashley’s songwriting and soppy vocals are the focal point of Doghouse Flowers, it would be irresponsible not to mention the band he’s assembled to back him here. Joe Glidden’s steel guitar accents almost every track on the album as Ashley’s unspoken duet partner.