No Fools, No Fun (Puss N Boots) | 4/5

SINGAPORE — Here’s a vocal trio that will get all you country rock lovers jumping up and down. You’ll be familiar with jazz singers Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson (more the former I would wager), and if you add Catherine Popper (late of Ryan Adams’ backing band The Cardinals) in the mix, you get a supergroup of sorts that possesses the chops and passion for country music, resulting in one of the finer alt-country releases in 2014. Ironically, of course, when you think of the genre, you think back to the country rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s and it’s not difficult to pick up references to Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette on this wonderful debut. Apart from the competent originals (Dobson’s Sex Degrees Of Separation and Jones’ Don’t Know What It Means), there are also live renditions of Neil Young’s Down By the River and Johnny Cash’s Bull-Rider, and tasty studio versions of Wilco’s Jesus, Etc and The Band’s Twilight for good measure. This is good old fashioned classic rock ‘n’ roll, as far as I am concerned.