There are some great moments on Sebastopol, the first solo album from former Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar, just not enough to recommend buying it. Sebastopol suffers from the same disease later albums by Farrar’s acclaimed but now defunct alt-country band Son Volt did: a numbing lack of variety.

To be fair, Sebastopol does score in several places, too. “Barstow,” a duet with alt-folkie Gillian Welch, finds Farrar revisiting the steel guitars, honky-tonk harmonies and rock drums that gave his bands crossover appeal; it’s among his best songs to date. “Make It Alright,” a mellow acoustic gem, is another keeper, as is the last track “Vitamins,” another quiet, acoustic number built around the phrase “you’re really not mad at anyone, you’re just mad.”

With a couple of exceptions, the other 14 tracks—that’s right, there are 17 songs on Sebastopol—are barely distinguishable from one another. Course, if you like one, you may find you like them all.