Elegant, powerful and authentically Southern, Allison Moorer's is the rare voice worthy of an entire album of cover songs. So it's not surprising that "Mockingbird" contains more than its share of iPod-deserving tributes (including Nina Simone's "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl" and a slowed, acoustic, hornless take on "Ring of Fire"). What is, however, are some of the songs she revamps, as not all clear the fence. The sound of the Alabama-born, Nashville-groomed singer attempting the rural loneliness of Gillian Welch's "Revelator" strikes an intriguing chord, but her take on Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" doesn't feel right, and she doesn't seem quite dirty enough for Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot." Hiccups aside, there's something really brave and thoroughly punk rock about hearing her tackle Ma Rainey's "Daddy Goodbye Blues," considering her father took his and her mother's lives in a murder-suicide.—Wes Orshoski