The best moments on Martin Devaney's "Letters Never Sent" are unexpected showings of teeth, such as "I want to wrecking-ball the walls in" and "The olive branch is broken" on opening track "Flowers On The Doorstep." These moments, however, are few and far between on a record so otherwise innocuous that it hardly makes an impression.

Devaney clearly has abilities; his voice is likeably rough and his guitar work is steady and confident. What's missing here is a sense of unique purpose. Each folk-rock song glides by, not obtrusive enough to make a dent. There's no way to be sure, of course, but it sounds like Devaney is trying for Ryan Adams or Josh Ritter territory – that is, relatively unremarkable arrangements with melody and verse at the forefront. These aren't the songs that will achieve this for Devaney.

There are strong moments, to be sure; "Drought" has a catchy melody sure to stick with you, and Jake Hyer's violin on "Five Day Affair" give the proceedings a breezy, Whiskeytown-like feel. The showings of teeth, too, make a real difference, but not enough to be memorable.
The production on "Letters Never Sent" might be part of the problem. Instruments are muffled in some places and clear as a bell in others; whole tracks often sound like they were recorded in a high school locker. This may sound like nitpicking, but a better production job could have made this whole enterprise a little more interesting. The record approaches this kind of creativity with tracks like "An Open Letter," on which Devaney himself plays nicely harmonized saxophone. That track, too, features the neat phrases "There's a battle in Seattle" and "I know there's nothing better than salt in the open wound." If only Devaney had repeated the quirks of "An Open Letter" elsewhere on the record.

There's enough good stuff on "Letters Never Sent" to hint of good things to come – Devaney's half-Jagger/half-Richards voice, the occasional tight melody – but not enough to fill out this record.

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