Make no mistake about it, {$Marc Broussard} can sing. With a husky baritone that sounds like some Louisiana version of {$David Ruffin} and an upward range that suggests {$Al Green} or {$Eddie Kendricks}, {$Broussard}'s soulful phrasing carries a kind of joyous and yet world-weary wisdom that belies his age. The lead track here, {&"Home"} (the album is named after {$Broussard}'s hometown of Carencro, LA), is immediately stunning. A huge and atmospheric swampy {@Motown} stomp, {&"Home"} sounds like {$Otis Redding} from some alternate universe -- one in which he doesn't die in a plane crash -- singing {\swamp pop} with all the {\funk} of a Memphis {@Stax} groove and all the ghostly alligator voodoo of {$Dr. John}. An explosively effective track, {&"Home"} is a hard act to follow, and the rest of this album seems to trail in its wake. {&"Save Me"} sounds like it could be a winning single for the neo-{@MTV} generation, and {$Broussard}'s surprisingly joyous vocal (you can tell he takes glee in singing, a trait, again, that recalls {$Al Green}) masks a somewhat codependent lyric, while {&"Lonely Night in Georgia"} sounds like {$John Hiatt} trying to channel {$Ray Charles}. There is a journeyman's feel to some of the songs, but {$Broussard}'s soulful vocals always find a meaningful corner to work from in just about everything here, and one can't help but feel this guy has a monster album in him just around the corner. {^Carencro} isn't a masterpiece (although {&"Home"} certainly is), but it is a solid, professional, and undeniably soulful outing, and anyone who can sing like this kid is definitely going to set the world reeling back on its heels eventually. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide