*** The Radio Kings

MONEY ROAD

(Bullseye Blues)

Boston's Radio Kings have reinvented themselves as a roots-rock outfit. That might appear an odd choice given that their career as a national touring and recording blues band is well under way. But it's a good artistic move. To me, they seemed merely adequate when they recycled blues, with a surfeit of soul. By playing hard and tough on Money Road they've avoided making another mediocre album and come up with perhaps the best revivalist rock since the Blasters (whose Dave Alvin penned this CD's liner notes) busted up.

Sure, there are shuffles and slow blues here, but they're delivered with a new attitude. Brian Templeton's hard-edged voice bites into these impressively written songs with total commitment. Michael Dinallo's guitars work like hip-pocket razors, slashing vibrato-laden licks into tunes like "Money in Her Pocket" or drawing blood with the emotionally knotted solo he carves into "My Day of Reckoning (Has Finally Come)." In that song, the Radio Kings may have found their first truly great signature number. Templeton's vocals sound haunted and honest, trapped in a world of trouble. It's the kind of edgy, believable performance the band couldn't quite muster on disc in the past. And it's proof they've found their calling.

-- Ted Drozdowski