'Sob Rock' review: John Mayer sounds as good as ever

With 'Sob Rock', John Mayer sought to update the sounds of his childhood to the present day.

John Mayer didn't want to create a 'costume' record, he said in a recent interview with the newsletter Blackbird Spyplane.

With Sob Rock, Mayer said, he sought to update the sounds of his childhood — he mentions U2, Lionel Richie, Paula Abdul and other late-'80′s stalwarts — to the present day, a reupholstering of sorts. What he hoped to do, he says, was to grind the influences into a fine enough dust that you can make a new paste out of it.