Big Backyard Beat Show

Big Backyard Beat Show is aptly named, since it takes the down-home retro twang of BR5-49's earlier releases and punches it up with big, old-school rock & roll beats. That doesn't make this record any less country, though; these boys know that rock & roll was country all along. To wit, rollicking covers of "Wild One" and "Seven Nights to Rock" are hillbilly boogie and rockabilly, respectively, only with the guitars--both electric and pedal-steel--cranked and twisted to contemporary levels. The only real weakness here is that the originals of frontmen Chuck Mead and Gary Bennett aren't as strong this time around as last, but even then the shuffle "My Name Is Mudd" and the driving "You Are Never Nice to Me" come awfully darn close. --David Cantwell