On his second
Orchestra album and fourth solo album overall,
Brian Setzer extends the genre exercise in jump blues he first tackled on
The Brian Setzer Orchestra album. Of course,
Setzer, best known as the singer/guitarist from
the Stray Cats, is no stranger to retro stylings, and the guitar-dominated, yet horn-filled arrangements of the orchestra are not all that far removed from
the Cats' rockabilly update, especially given
Setzer's fervent singing and characteristic lead work. (A new version of
the Cats' "Rumble in Brighton" fits right in.) And he's not shy, leading off with a
Stevie Ray Vaughan cover, "The House Is Rockin'," swaggering his way through the
Gene Pitney chestnut "Town Without Pity," and collaborating with ex-
Clash leader
Joe Strummer on the set-ending "Sammy Davis City." Like
Joe Jackson, who tried this kind of thing with his excellent
Jumpin' Jive album,
Setzer takes this music seriously and turns in a credible version of it through a combination of craft and conviction. ~ William Ruhlmann