THE CD: “Rockabilly Music” (BMI)
THE PERFORMER: Billy Matheny

Ever wonder what would have happened if Glen Frey and the rest of the Eagles had strangled Don Henley and replaced him with Elvis Costello? No, this is not a ridiculous Harry Turtledove novel where the aliens show up and Adolph Hitler manages the Jackson Five.

But it is basically what you get with Morgantown boy singer/songwriter Billy Matheny.

The messages are familiar. The backwater world is paradoxically a strange paradise and a desperate hell. Nobody is really happy, but it’s home.

Matheny plays a dizzying array of instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, lap steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro and keyboards. Busy hands are happy hands. He offers up some nice bombastic alt country, plus honest or awkward songs about booze, women, truckstops and other sacred icons of the country hipster.

— By Bill Lynch

THE CD: Rust Kings
PERFORMER: “Lo Fi Heartache” (Mudbone Records)

They’re a little bit country, a little bit rock n’ roll and not exactly either… Lewisburg’s own Rust Kings deliver a nice little album of Americana grit.

This is roots music with the band’s roots pretty well exposed — a little Lucinda Williams here, a little bit of the Band there and heaping helping of early, pre-electric Bob Dylan.

From start to finish, Jeanne Hoffman, Allan Sizemore and assembled company go through a collection of songs infused with the same Southern gothic guitar twang that bands like R.E.M. refined and pretty much trademarked about 25 years ago. What “Lo Fi Heartache” does is revist and remember what wasn’t quite ready for anything but college radio play then — and is almost genuinely underground now.

It’s not a perfect album. Bright spots include “High Time.” “Empty Broken Tow” and “The Only Sound I Hear.” “Isabel is something of a Southern rock stinker and seems a bit out of place with the rest of the songs.

Don’t bother the people at FYE on this one. All they’ll do is stare at you like you’ve got lobsters crawling out of your ears. These guys are local. If you want to hear this, you’ll have to buy local or get it off the web at: www.rustkings.com.

— By Bill Lynch

THE CDS: “Down to the Cider Mill” and “Stay All Night and Don’t go Home,” County Records 2734 and 2735

THE ARTISTS: Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Oscar Jenkins

These are the recordings that first brought the late (and much revered) North Carolina fiddle and banjo players Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham to a wider audience. The recordings also feature the fiddling and unorthodox banjo playing of Oscar Jenkins.

“Cider Mill” was an effort to recreate DaCosta Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters, a string band from the 1920s, which featured the fathers of Jarrell and Jenkins. This late 1960s incarnation was an unusual pairing. Jenkins’ 5-string Mastertone banjo sounds a little like a banjo uke, with some unusul chords thrown in on “Ground Hog.” Jenkins was also a pretty good fiddler, as on “Honeysuckle Blues.”

The best cuts are the Jarrell/Cockerham banjo fiddle duets — listen to “John Brown’s Dream.” This is Old-time Music 101. Head to Clifftop next August and you can listen to hundreds of people play these very tunes in this very North Carolina style. Many are festival standards today, known nationwide, and around the world: “Suzanna Gal,” Reuben,” “Fall on my Knees” and “Cider Mill.”

“Stay All Night” holds more good music, especially “Breakin’ Up Christmas,” and “Old Bunch of Keys.”

You can hear why: a lazy bow, an irresistible pull and decidely homemade singing and playing, all wrapped in layers of slippery subtlety it takes a lifetime to unravel. And that is half of the fun. This is must-hear music for traditional music fans.

Available on the Web at www.countysales.com, or from County records, P.O. Box 7405, Charlottesville, VA 22906

The artist: DEVO

The CD/DVD: DEVO Live 1980 (Music Video Distributors)
Back in 1980, nobody thought that DEVO, a quirky semi-novelty new wave rock band, would turn out to be one of the most prescient and influential musical touchstones for the next 25 years. But the spudboys from Kent State left more of a mark than anybody could have suspected. From the background music for dozens of movies and TV shows (including “Rugrats” and “Rushmore”) to the musical direction for countless commercials over the last few years, the guys from DEVO have proven that, once freed from the restraints of a very restrictive Warner Brothers recording contract, they are capable of being an industrial music force to be reckoned with.

Add to that the way that mainstream radio has embraced the once “offbeat” sounds that were their stock-in-trade, and it’s striking that a band of “geeks” made music that still echoes in recent hit songs by Britney Spears, Green Day, Franz Ferdinand and even Madonna.

Then there’s also the whole “De-evolution” philosophy that grounded the band’s lyrics and approach to music. Basically, De-evolution is the theory that, rather than progressing, man is regressing, growing progressively stupider as things wind down for the human race. (If the direct line from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush isn’t proof of that, I don’t know what is.)

So it’s only fitting that the DVD side of this dualdisc (DVD on one side, CD on the flip) begins with a Star Wars-style screen crawl that details DEVO’s battle against the political tides of the 1980s, and declares: “Now, 25 years later, the reign of Ronald Reagan seems in retrospect like a ray of sunshine compared to the present-day rule of Emperor ‘W’ and his fellow fundamentalist enemies around the world.” We are then treated to a complete DEVO performance from their prime, taped on August 17th, 1980.

This is DEVO at their most vital, performing their trademark New Wave bombast, with wild synthesizers and guitars layered over impeccably crafted hyper-pop tunes. That the lyrics all have to deal with man’s stupidity to man is a bonus. This concert film was recreated and assembled from many surviving chunks after being thought lost for years. The end result is not a technical masterpiece. This is basically what any rock concert videotaped in 1980 would look like, but the performances more than make up for the pedestrian presentation. The fuzzy video makes the concert seem sort of like a futuristic relic from an earlier era.

Standout performances are “Jocko Homo,” “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” and “Uncontrollable Urge,” but all the songs, mostly taken from DEVO’s first three albums, are great. If all you know about DEVO is “Whip It,” then you owe it to yourself to check this dualdisc out. There’s so much more to the band than that one song. But they do perform it on this disc, as well.

The DVD side contains some bonus material. There are a couple of performances by DEVO as “Dove, the Band of Love” — their born-again alter-ego band, which was a parody of alt-Christian pop music before that genre even existed. We’re also treated to the film and song “Tunnel Of Life,” featuring DEVO’s mascot, Booji Boy.

The CD side is a little odd in that it eliminates some of the material from the DVD, including “Jocko Homo.” If you just want the audio of a live DEVO concert from 1980, you may want to seek out the expanded version of “DEVO Live” that Rhino Handmade released a few years back. It was recorded four days later for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, and has better overall audio quality than this release.

But that is missing the point somewhat. DEVO was as much a visual band as they were musical artists. Seeing them perform is as much fun as hearing them, and this is DEVO at the top of their game. After watching this concert, and looking around at the current political landscape, you’ll agree with Booji Boy when he says “We’re all DEVO, Dad!”

-Rudy Panucci

The CD: “Charge!!” (Nitro Records)
The Artist: The Aquabats

Imagine if DEVO, Oingo Boingo, and The Power Rangers teamed up to fight space monsters. That’s the sound of The Aquabats.

Originally a third-wave Ska band from the same Southern California music scene that spawned No Doubt and Sublime, The Aquabats have gone from being a quirky semi-novelty act to carving out a solid career as a smart but fun band whose music shows a tremendous level of craftsmanship and cleverness. On the West Coast they have a huge following, with lots of younger fans (”Aquacadets” they call themselves) who are fiercely loyal.

In a refreshing contrast to much of the current music scene, The Aquabats make some of the most entertaining noise you can hear today. Their songs are loaded with good-natured self-deprecation, ridiculous fantasy, and really cool imagery straight out of cheesy sci-fi movies. This shouldn’t be a surprise, coming from a band that took their name from some obscure henchmen in the old 1960s Batman TV show.

“Charge!!” marks a new stage in The Aquabat’s evolution. With this album, their horn section has departed. Their last few albums have featured less and less of their original Ska sound, and more of the type of synthesizer-driven rock that makes me drive faster than I should. “Charge!!” sounds like pure early-80s New Wave, with percolating synthesizers, crunchy guitars, and crisp production. The tunes are like New Wave flies in amber. And since this is the type of music I devoured in my formative years, I’m loving it!

The Aquabats have always chosen offbeat topics and themes for their songs. With their penchant on previous albums to sing about action figures, alien girls, and fighting giant monsters, the ‘Bats at times seemed intent on usurping the crowns of the reigning kings of Nerd Rock, They Might Be Giants. The difference is that the Aquabats are less artsy, and loads more fun.

On “Charge!!” The Aquabats treat us to an adventure song about “Fashion Zombies” (the video of which can be seen here), as well as killer bursts of energy like “Mechanical Ape,” “Plastic Lips,” and “Demolition Rickshaw.” Another memorable highlight of the album is “Look At Me (I’m A Winner),” a Cheap Trick-esque anthem for guys who manage to be happy with nothing but “Four radios blasting classic rock.”

“Awsome Forces” is another in a long line of songs where the Aquabats tell us how they’re protecting the downtrodden from a variety of menaces: “We are your average ordinary superhuman punishers of evil rock n’ roll band.” “Hot Summer Nights (Won’t Last Forever)” is a very funny song about a guy who falls in love with a girl who goes to great lengths to avoid him.

Underneath the goofy lyrics and superhero shenanigans, The Aquabats are very crafty tunesmiths. The songs are bright and well-constructed and fun for the whole family. Kids love the way these guys cavort on stage in superhero costumes, and the songs are strong enough to hook anyone else. A bonus for nerdy guys my age is the subject matter. There’s an obvious connection with anyone who grew up under the influence of Batman, Star Wars, Rat Fink, monster movies, and just about anything else really cool in pop culture for the last half-century.

“Charge!!” is a terrific wake-up call and real bright spot for anyone depressed at the current state of the world. Once again, The Aquabats come to the rescue!

— By Rudy Panucci

THE CD: “Speechless”
PERFORMER: Bruce Cockburn

I’ve read enough bad puns regarding the title of the latest Bruce Cockburn record to last me a long, long while. So I won’t jump on that bandwagon. Needless to say, it’s difficult to picture the 60-year-old Cockburn as a guy with nothing to say on a new record.

But “Speechless,” an all-instrumental compilation effort that snatches gems from previous Cockburn albums and throws in a few new pieces, lets the music, sans words, speak for itself. Craftsmanship is the watchword here. Cockburn, a one-time student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, has always been interested in writing instrumental music.

The disc begins with the tune “Foxglove” from the 1973 album “Night Vision.” It’s a bouncy American-ish miniature (or should I say ‘Canadian-ish’) that would make Leo Kottke proud. Other early solo guitar efforts include “Water into Wine” (from 1974’s “In the Falling Dark”) and “Salt, Sun, and Time” from the album of the same name released in 1976.

The track “Mistress of Storms,” a duet with Gary Burton, is a real attention getter. Nimble acoustic guitar pairs here with Burton’s dark, low-register vibes. It’s jazz — well kind of. It’s folkish — but not really. Think beyond genre: this is just a great acoustic track, a conversation between friends.

The sinuous organ-laced “When it’s Gone, it’s Gone” features Edgar Meyer on bass. Mark O’Connor chimes in on mandolin and Booker T. Jones (Booker T and the MGs) is the organist that gives this track a dark edge which complements Cockburn’s echoey, spooky guitar line.

A new track, “The End of All Rivers,” features pensive guitar harmonics coupled with some loops and effects. Cockburn also uses a Tibetan prayer bowl and Navajo flute to add to the most atmospheric piece on the record.

This is a fan’s album. People who love Bruce Cockburn will be impressed with his great musical chops and be pleased that he has finally released an all-instrumental collection. Others may overlook this disc — which would be a mistake. Bruce Cockburn is a pretty good musician — with or without his signature firebrand lyrics.

— By Laura Allen

THE CD: “Has Been”
THE PERFORMER: William Shatner

It would be easy to dismiss William Shatner’s music as either a strange exercise in a television icon’s ego or some bizarre novelty.

The thing is… ‘Has Been’ is pretty good. It’s a lot less inadvertantly silly as say his 1960’s classic ‘The transformed man’, which included a memorable takes on “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” that could be described as the kind of entertainment provided by watching a train crash into a carload of mimes.

It’s sort of tragic… sort of funny…

Trippy club beats, snarling guitars and solid backing vocals elevate Shatner’s one-of-a-kind delivery from pop culture pap to something incredibly fun. It doesn’t hurt that Shatner doesn’t take the whole thing entirely seriously or that ‘friends’ like Ben Folds, Aimee Mann and Henry Rollins put in appearances.

Track 10, “I Can’t Get Behind That,” featuring Rollins, is an absolute riot.

— By Bill Lynch

THE CD: “Get Myself Together” (Terminus Records)
THE PERFORMER: Danny Barnes

Bad Livers founder Danny Barnes mixes country, neo-traditional music, Delta blues, rock classics (”Sympathy for the Devil”) and some newfangled clawhammer banjo. Think John Hartford and Roger Miller in a sack race with Clarence Ashley.

Don’t let the hipster thing fool you — Barnes is a clever songwriter. (Hear him live on “Mountain Stage” show Oct. 16 here in Charleston). “Get Me Out of Jail” tells a tale of an Oxycontin user/loser, in classic jukebox cry-in-your-beer style, with that backbeat and voice reminiscent of John Anderson and some fine guitar playing:

“Well I got drunk this morning/and I went off to work/ by 9 or 10 I cashed it in/and threw up on my shirt/then I lost your house keys/so I broke in with a rock/I keep my Oxycontin baby/way down in my socks/well I think its gonna rain/and turn colder I’m a growing pain/that’s growing older/if you don’t know me all that well/baby please come get me out of jail”

Another, “Wasted Mind,” paints a vivid picture of an aimless 17-year-old:

“You got headers on your Honda/you shoulda spent the money on a carburator overhaul/ so your rusty bucket won’t stall at the courthouse/you’re only 17 with a Detroit lean/and a baby that don’t look like you/and you might be a little stupid too/and there’s that smart mouth.”

On the neo-traditional side, “Cumberland Gap” has a string quartet feel, with more solid banjo work and very honest playing from 16-year-old California fiddler Brittany Haas. Next up is the bluesy gospel of “Let Your Light Shine on Me” with more fine guitar work. Through it all, the warm production is closer to the bone than his previous CD, “Dirt on the Angel.” Barnes is a walking garage sale of the recycled, the reinfused and the new. Where else can you find a CD with songs from Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Willie Johnson and Bill Frisell?

Barnes keeps getting better.

WHERE: Available on the Web at www.terminusrecords.com

—By Paul Gartner

THE CD: “Shadows And Dust” (Stereo Society)
THE PERFORMER: Lene Lovich

The Grand Goth Duchess of punk rock’s premier label, Stiff Records, Lene Lovich has returned with her first full length studio album in 15 years. In the interim, besides raising a family, she worked on film and theater projects, as well as recording the PETA anthem “Don’t Kill The Animals” with fellow Bizarro Diva, Nina Hagen.

“Shadows And Dust” is shocking in that Lovich seems not to have missed a beat. She sounds just as wonderfully strange as ever. Generally, when an artist as eccentric and enigmatic as Lovich disappears for an extended period, their return is a disappointment. Not so with Lene Lovich. This new album is as delightfully odd as the best of her music from decades ago. This Czechoslovakian princess (actually from Detroit), wears her surrealistic influences on her sleeve. You can hear traces of Brecht, DEVO and Van Der Graaf Generator in her crisply composed songs about living life happily in the shadows. This CD is a primo slab of mutant cabaret music.

Recorded at her home studio, with her longtime collaborator, husband Les Chappell playing most of the instruments, “Shadows And Dust” sounds like a fresh blast from the new wave heyday of the early 1980s. They say that the best music in the world is whatever you’re listening to when you’re between the ages of fifteen and twenty, and for me this is it. I would have worn this album out on vinyl had it existed back in the dark ages of the Reagan regime. I guess the time is right for new music to inspire non-conformists.

With song titles like “Ghost Story,” “Wicked Witch,” “Gothica” and “Insect Eater,” you can see that Lovich is still in tune with the Hot Topic crowd. “Wicked Witch,” with its driving synthesizer and Lovich’s patented operatic hiccup vocals is a standout track that recalls DEVO (at one point, her labelmates in the UK on Stiff Records). “Gothica” is a new anthem for creepy misfits everywhere. “Shape Shifter” manages to take a hip-hop beat and twist it into a perfect vehicle for Lovich’s offbeat musical magic.

If you’re a fan of Siouxsie and the Banshees, then you need to check out Lene Lovich, for the pure unadulterated sound of a woman on a wild musical mission. Siouxsie copped most of her vocal and musical style from Lovich, but she watered it down. On “Shadows And Dust” Lene Lovich has reclaimed her crown as the leading purveyor of love songs for the weird. The album can be ordered directly from The Stereo Society.

—By Rudy Panucci

THE CD: “My Better Self” (Domino) (Razor and Tie Records)
PERFORMER: Dar Williams

It’s unfortunate that so many indie female singer/songwriters are compared with folk juggernaut Ani Difranco. Difranco puts out about a million albums a year, designs her own covers and tours so much that random strangers ask her for directions to the nearest gas station. All of this makes it difficult for other very talented independent female songwriters to get as much notice as they deserve.

Dar Williams is a startling songwriter and storyteller. Album after album, she has offered up catchy songs filled with wry and intelligent lyrics about everyday life that are never ordinary. Her latest, “My Better Self,” is yet another fine collection that glides through the human experience with songs touching on everything from anger and longing to spiritual evolution and political disenfranchisement.

In what might be considered either a novelty or an instant classic, Williams tackles Pink Floyd’s song of human disconnection “Comfortably Numb” and turns it into a tortured cry of political angst. The Righteous Babe herself rides shotgun on this one, sitting in the place of guitarist David Gilmour with a take on the song that is chillingly bleak and foreboding.

This may be Williams’ most overtly political album to date.

“My Better Self” is a remarkable album by one of the best indie songwriters out there.

—By Bill Lynch