A blend of old-school country, growling barnstormers, and touching ballads, Travis Tritt’s The Restless Kind fuses rock ’n’ roll grit and Southern sincerity. The title track kicks things off right: just enough swagger and jukebox muscle for a country song that won't resort to the blaring theatrics befalling so many modern hits. Tritt avoids his contemporaries' corny punchlines and speaks straight from the heart. Ballads like “Helping Me Get Over You” and “Did You Fall Far Enough” are invested with genuine introspection and candor. His group of players never misses the mark. They give rock attitude and country vigor to the uptempo tracks (witness the slingshot guitar fills and swinging bass on “She’s Going Home with Me”) and bring a soft touch to the slow dances (the fiddle and mandolin flourishes of “More Than You’ll Ever Know”). The Restless Kind is the best of what modern country can be: guided by the classics but completely content in its own boots. The album might be called The Restless Kind, but country music has never sounded more steadfast.