Billy Bragg Mr. Love and Justice ANTI- more music most popular most commented The Brakes by Edd Hurt We Are Scientists' Brain Thrust Mastery by DAN WEISS Subtle's ExitingARM by IAN COHEN Black Stars: Ghana's Hiplife Generation by Phil Freeman Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs by GARRETT KAMPS Girls Love Gay Male Porn Pucker Up by Tristan Taormino My Boyfriend's Kink Is Getting Fat. What Do I Do? Savage Love by Dan Savage Sex and the City Spoilers: A Sneak Preview of What Really Happens to Carrie and the Girls by Lynn Yaeger The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo by Maria Luisa Tucker Our Favorite Writers Pick Their Favorite Obscure Books Summer Guide by ALEXANDER NAZARYAN NYPD Inaction Over a Missing Black Woman Found Dead Sparks a Historic Racial-Bias Lawsuit (9) Sean Gardiner Devo-Inspired Art in East Williamsburg (8) Maro The Barely Legal Empire of Tony Alamo (5) Maria Luisa Tucker David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal' (4) David Mamet Runnin' Scared: Deep South of Houston: Is a Soul-Food Restaurant Too Black for Soho? (4) Runnin' Scared: Chloe A. Hilliard

After a six-year break, Billy Bragg is back with his second go-round with backing band the Blokes, and his second release to steal its title from a Colin MacInnes book—following 2002's politically charged England, Half English, now comes Mr. Love and Justice, concerned more with the former than the latter, and available as a limited-edition double CD featuring the same songs performed by Bragg solo. In either version, first single "I Keep Faith" is an intimate acoustic piece pledging a bond to one's love—perfect for a heartfelt, all-or-nothing romantic with a talent for stirring up tenderness without sounding trite or disingenuous. The title track is pleasant but average, while "Farm Boy" has a country-soul sound, broken down by the Blokes to its bare roots. "I Almost Killed You" is punctuated by hand claps and an Irish backbeat, full of joy and resurrected life, while "Something Happened" is the album's big rock moment, with a great guitar solo by Bragg and a similarly bombastic harmonica outburst by Ben Mandelson. Overall, Mr. Love and Justice is classic Bragg: frequently fantastic folk-rock that keeps both the faith and your attention.