** 1/2 The Jayhawks, “Sound of Lies,” American Recordings.

Not much is left of the band from Minneapolis that dusted off country-rock to deliver one of the genre’s sweetest gems, 1992’s “Hollywood Town Hall.” After Mark Olson’s departure, the only remaining members are singer-guitarist Gary Louris and bassist Marc Perlman. In truth, “Sound of Lies” was delivered by another band that’s still reaching to discover what it is.

Paired with co-producer Brian Paulson (Wilco, Beck), Louris has recorded some amazingly sad songs and some sweet ballads dripping with something like hope. Strangely, it’s all wrapped in a pop veneer of oooh la-la choruses and deja vu guitar lines that owe a lot to Tom Petty and the Beatles and overwhelm the sepia-tinted piano trills.

Despite battling emotions, muddled messages and elusive experimentation, this is still a brave album--sprawling and sometimes desolate, with the exceptions of such cozier songs as the heartbreak hymn “Stick in the Mud” and an Eagles-like tune about a mercenary lover called “It’s Up to You.”

“Won’t you take my hand, won’t you be my friend,” a lonely sounding Louris invites in the album’s first lines. By the end of “Sound of Lies,” you just can’t go there with him--yet.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).