Poseidon and the Bitter Bug, though overall appealing, seems destined for the mellow sage lounging in the background of listeners. The Indigo Girls ran off with producer Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Missy Higgins, Pearl Jam) on a three week recording sesssion, manifesting into the current love album boasting two discs.

Though there are 23 songs, there’s only about 11 distinct ditties – the other half are either the acoustic or live pairing to the original, and really, between Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, there’s not much of a distinction, besides tossing a drum beat here and there.

That’s not to say that the ladies are slacking; the lyrics are still in mod-traditional storytelling fashion, and they’re keeping it all Indigo Girls with wise insights and quirky side comments like “”I fell for guys who tried to commit suicide, with soft rock hair and bloodshot eyes (“”Driver Education””).””

And they still manage to peel back layers of the collective’s memory with each guitar riff, and croon harmonies that dance the foxtrot; notes that meld into each other, but maintain a separateness that works to highlight each other’s assets and flairs.

And the great thing about Poseidon and the Bitter Bug is, regardless of the name and some raincloud lyrics scattered about (“”Digging for Your Dream””), the girls still keep it happy when they’re down with major chords and melodies twining through the grey times.

Rating: ***