We can scrap the notion that Court Yard Hounds is an outlet for sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire to keep playing country music since their Dixie Chicks partner Natalie Maines went solo. The duo’s sophomore set is broad and eclectic, romping through the Bangles-esque psychedelic pop of “Rock All Night” and the blues-tinged rock of “Watch Your Step” while gliding through the smooth, spacious melodicism of “Divided” and the poetic “Aimless Upward.” Robison and Maguire’s harmonies remain the Hounds’ most potent weapon, and there’s plenty of lyrical ambivalence to lend a gray hew to songs like the biting opener “Sunshine” and the uncertain plea at the center of “Gets You Down.” Richly arranged and sonically immaculate, “Amelita” spotlights two Chicks who play second fiddle to no one.
