Songwriter Chris Knight signed with a "fancy" Nashville label, released an impressive debut disc in 1998, and promptly got dropped. Though it took him three years, Knight has returned. A Pretty Good Guy is no great departure from the debut, as Knight still echoes in sound and style heroes like Steve Earle and John Prine ("Send a Boat" is a dead ringer for the latter). But where the first album was politely produced and played by studio pros, this one is a slugfest, thanks to producer and lead guitarist Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites, Yayhoos). That approach works on the brawling, buzzing "Oil Patch Town," though it overwhelms the careful lyricism of cuts like "Hard Candy." --Anders Smith Lindall