Edwards herself.(ATO)Sometimes nothing beats good ol' fashioned powerhouse soul, and that's exactly what Alabama Shakes delivered on their full-length debut. Led by vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, this young quartet seemed as though the sounds of Stax and Muscle Shoals had been imbued in their DNA, which, hailing from small-town Alabama, was probably the case. Adding just the right amount of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC swagger only strengthened their presentation, and distanced them from being labeled a purely retro act. It was hard to pin that on Howard anyway, since her natural expressiveness took command from the opening life-affirming track "Hold On." Her rough and ready band-mates merely had to follow in Howard's wake, and cover even the album's simplest charming moments like "Hang Loose" in irresistible musical molasses, somethingsocial meltdown following a peak oil crisis. That's followed by a down-and-dirty, harmonica-driven stomp that pays ode to your local gravedigger, and some light-hearted advice on bribing law enforcement with feigned theological allegiance. Then we get to one of the best long-distance rural-urban love songs ever written in this country or anywhere else. The rest of the album has rockabilly songs about German motorcycles and goth girls, yodelling odes to antique pistols and a song about how "everything is better when there's cows around." Whether he's goofing off, telling yarns or getting his heart broken, Lund never wastes a single word. His band of Hurtin' Albertans — the newest of whom has now been in the group for 11 years — have never sounded better, and Lund's melodies