Backed by a crack pick-up band that includes
the Young Fresh Fellows/
the Minus Five stalwarts
Scott McCaughey,
Jim Sangster and
Tad Hutchinson as well as
the Squirrels'
Joey Kline,
Roy Loney made one of his periodic comebacks with 2004's
Drunkard in the Think Tank, his first album in a full decade and his best since 1979's classic
Out After Dark. With production by
Conrad Uno and
McCaughey chipping in a couple of songs,
Drunkard in the Think Tank basically sounds like
Loney in front of a somewhat shambolic
Fellows/
Squirrels pick-up session, but unlike some of
Loney's previous solo records, this album captures the combination of looseness and tension that was at the heart of
the Flamin' Groovies classics like "Teenage Head," rather than just sounding like a boozed-up jam session. Great stuff, and
Loney's best album in a full-quarter-century.