Bark - Loud (Cool Dog Sounds/Dial Back Sound)

After several years of carrying the weight of leadership on a series of albums solo and with the Tim Lee 3, singer/songwriter/guitarist Tim Lee starting sharing the load with his missus, 3 bassist-turned-drummer Susan Bauer Lee, in Bark.Loud, the duo’s fourth album, features Tim on six-string bass and baritone guitar and Susan on drums, relying on meaty riffs, no-frills songwriting, and the duo’s ragged-but-right harmonizing to carry the performances. “Work in Progress” brings roots rock into the current century, while “Float” recalls Tim’s pop sense from the Windbreakers. “So Much Time” (as in “I wasted…”) thrums along with dogged determination and not a little bit of pure soul, while “Present Tense” takes the duo home on a flatbed of psychedelic drone. The presentation may be simple, but Bark pulls a lot of variety out of the baritone world in which they twang.