Surely you remember that classic hit from the Charlie Daniels Band, “Uneasy Rider”? Well, he may not be on his way to L.A. via Omaha, but Louisiana rock-rootser Tom Coerver is that uneasy rider, a proud redneck stuck in a world that won’t let him be free, a rebel in both the big and little “r” sense of the word. Well, not quite every sense: this isn’t the late summer of 1973, and music has moved on. But don’t tell that to Tom, who seems quite happy to be stuck here, musically and lyrically, in a place where “they beat you in the head ’till you can’t feel a thing” and you can see “guitar heroes stumblin’ down the twelve steps” and a girl can look like “a sniper in the face of hope.” Somewhere, there’s a truly original songwriter struggling to get out of this man. And, frankly, a lot of what he does is about the struggle anyway.

Until then, Waterfront View still offers plenty for the Southern-rock fan; in fact, it’s one of the best rock albums to come out of the Sportsman’s Paradise this year. The one-two opening punch of “Down South Mama” and “Hear That Train” functions like an amped-up boogie generator; Coerver produced and recorded everything here himself, and the resultant sound hits like a brick to the face. If you’re the kind of person still pissed off that ZZ Top started using synthesizers, this is the CD for you to annoy the cops with.

Best of all, nitpicks about originality fall away when you hear Tom’s guitar chops-locals may not be that impressed by someone who can cover Howlin’ Wolf or Burton Gaar or Neil Young (proving a Southern man does need him around, at least some of the time), but how many guitarists can combine Chicago’s “Sing A Mean Tune, Kid” and “A Hit By Varese” in a medley, suck out all the jazz and prog influences, replicate the solos, and make it stick? Watch him folks, for he’s a fairly dangerous man.