Los Angeles is not a city that I associate with laid-back guitar, country music, and endless fields of golden grass stretching out to the horizon. Well, not unless that field of grass is hiding packs of Mexican gangsters with enough firepower to equip a small African army. Which means that I find the Shurman's description of themselves as "Los Angeles Americana" mystifying, either TV and movies have lied to me and LA isn't the hardboiled urban war zone I believe it to be, or I'm missing some sort of subtle cultural reference.

Bewildering references to Californian cities aside, Shurman produce workmanlike Americana-roots music. There's nothing on this album which really redefines the genre or blew my mind, but it's not a horrible misfire of an album either. "Jubilee" is a mid-range alt-country record that doesn't mind being a mid-range alt-country record.

The opening track of the album, Drownin' is a good example of what you can expect from this album, and I'm not referring only to leaving the final letter off of all of your words. It's crunchy, crispy, and just a little bit too clean for this sort of music. The very best music in this genre sounds shambolic and untidy, like it's spent one too many late nights playing the guitar and drinking cheap whisky. Drownin' however, sounds like its in bed before 9pm every night, and that it has a respectable white-collar job and a house in the suburbs.

Granted, that doesn't mean that some of the music here isn't extremely enjoyable. When the band get a bit noisier, the fun factor goes up and I found myself liking what I heard. Tonight I'm Drinking is just the alcohol-fuelled romp that the title promises, except that it doesn't end with a splitting headache the next morning. I Got You (Part 3) is a lively number that segues very nicely into the title track, a slower number that still manages to avoid the malaise that slow roots-rock songs fall into.

Still, despite its enjoyable moments, "Jubilee" is not a spectacular record, just a decent record with a few nice songs on it. These nice songs are unfortunately crowded out in many spots by the filler, which is a bit of a shame. Shurman haven't hit a home run yet, but if they eliminate the annoying sound clips off their website that you can't turn off, and concentrate on the positive aspects of their music that they occasionally display here, they'll be able to make a name for themselves, even in Los Angeles.