Personnel: Billy Harvey (guitar, background vocals); Derek Morris (keyboards, background vocals); Rafael Gayol (drums, background vocals); Bruce Hughes (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Dave McNair.
Recording information: Texas Treefort Studios, Austin, TX.
Though the Austin musician Bob Schneider has made his name performing the kind of smart, melodic, emotive songs normally associated with sensitive singer-songwriters, THE CALIFORNIAN finds him ditching this tag in favor of harder-rocking material. In a torrent of sharply observed lyrical imagery, the frantic "Party At the Neighbors" and "Game Plan"'s Elvis Costello-style paranoia both mine Schneider's wilder side, while the good-timey "Mix It Up" and the heavy riffing title track conjure non other than vintage Aerosmith.