In Brief

* * 1/2 Kevn Kinney, “Down Out Law,” Mammoth. The Drivin-n-Cryin leader’s facility for Woody ‘n’ Bob folkiness and occasional forays into Neil Young-Creedence territory aren’t quite enough to make the modest charms of this mostly acoustic one-man show more than modest charms. Neither his voice nor songwriting is distinctive enough to flesh out what sound like strong demos for his band.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). A rating of five stars (a classic) is reserved for retrospective albums.