The Story of Sonny Boy Slim

Editors’ Notes There's no question that Austin singer/guitarist Gary Clark Jr. can shred with the best of them. But on his second major-label full-length, it's his restraint that's his trump card. He gently dabs the minimalist blues-rocker "The Healing" with little more than a B.B. King-style riff and a poker-hot vocal, keeping the song gorgeously unfussy. Just as expressive is the stomping "Grinder," which features a literally screaming guitar lick that mimics the line it follows: "My baby's crying/So now my baby's crying.”