I don't like this band's name, their overly cheery website or even this album's cover -- but Last of the Blue Diamond Miners has some of the funkiest, most accomplished Americana rock I've heard in quite a while. Led by Johhny Markowski, the son of Thomas Jefferson Kaye (who helped engineer such classics as "Soldier Boy" and "Dead Skunk"), Stir Fried whips up a dark and spicy blend of urban stories (concerning abuse and the scary desire to see a father die) and southern country-soul. "Vanessa" begins the album with a strong groove reminiscent of the Meters; Markowski, who sounds like a mix of Tom Petty and Levon Helm, exhorts, "Momma, get your bags and run, Papa's got a gun". The chorus adds the soulful wailing of Joanne Lediger -- who sounds like one of Roger Waters' backing vocalists -- and follows with some of the best vocal work Dr John has ever done. He has a rich voice, and it seeps into everything the song has going on: the steel guitar of Buddy Cage, Bernie Worrell's clavinet and some great banjo work by a guy named Tony Trischka. "Vanessa" ends with the crisp, clear sound of two pistol shots, and it actually hits you hard. This is the funky song in which even the narrative rises to the level of the band's skill.

Another terrific track, "West of the Mississippi", recalls the Grateful Dead and Buddy's old band, New Riders of the Purple Sage. The playing by Buddy and Vassar Clements (fiddle) is so good it damn near tosses you into Heaven, or at least to New Jersey (where Johnny resides).

By the time you find yourself on the "Road Trip to Marist", you've heard songs I could do without -- "Blood Brother" repeats that damn title over and over, while "Quagmire" features more killer work from Buddy, but no compelling story -- but the trip is worth it. A great car song for any time you're swinging through swamplands, "Road Trip to Marist" is one of Johnny's few "fluffy" songs, but it competes ably with his more serious material (like "Black Dress", which follows). "Black Dress" takes its title from an early lyric about a sister "buying a black velvet dress", and this title/garment perfectly evokes the complex feelings of jubilation and funereal sadness presented in the song. Running for nearly seven minutes, the track never sags for a second, and it's fascinating to hear lyrics go from wishes for everyone to "love one another" to praying "for my old man to be dead". It's the rare song that could plant the seeds for a very interesting feature film.

Counting "The Door is Still Open" and "Last of the blue Diamond Miners", you have at least six songs that would thrill most anybody who ever found something wonderful in the Band, the Grateful Dead or the Gourds. You'll also get some silliness -- "Sex Machine" (no relation to the James Brown song) might be fun in concert, but it's so beneath them here -- and some fodder ("Let it be Known"), but the gems in this uneven album are definitely worth mining.