Opening song Walk Through Fire suggests a street-wise roots rocker, but next up the steel guitar sounds straight out of a 50's honky-tonk. From there the album swings between the two in fine style. This is the second album for singer/songwriter Michael Ublandi under this heading. He has combined his love of Hank Williams and Buck Owens with his equal appreciation of the likes of the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Clash.
This is passionate, literate lamenting. Songs such as The Outlaw Kind, Heart Full of Tears, Lonesome When You’re Gone and Another Side To Every Story are testament to a man who has lived and loved and lost and needs to tell those tales so others can appreciate their loves and heartbreaks. He can also spin a story like J.W. Price the Texas Oil Man with equal skill and sincerity. Ublandi has written the 15 songs on the album and he and his tight band deliver these songs, capturing a raw and very real sound that combines an essence of roots music.
Ublandi has a straight up, world weary but hopeful voice that gives these songs their heart and soul. Bottle Cap Sky continues in the mode of Last of The Honky Tonk,s his previous album with the Playboys, a band that includes California country pedal steel player Gary Brandin. Ublandi has also a series of solo albums under his belt that show a man dedicated to getting his gritty music across. Michael and The Lonesome Playboys don't play the kind of music that country radio likes and that must say something about the true heart of this music. Bottle Cap Sky is for those who would like Springsteen, Steve Earle or any rough-edged bar band who live for their chance to play music that has meaning in their lives.