*** Dash Rip Rock

PAY DIRT

(PC Music)

If Jason & the Scorchers cross Hank Williams with the Ramones, Dash Rip Rock are a looser, friendlier cross of Marty Robbins and the Titanics -- both of whom get covered on their eighth and best album. The New Orleans trio's hard-working/hard-drinking ethos makes them consistently fun on stage, but it hasn't always translated to disc. Their pseudo-hit so far was "Let's Go Smoke Some Pot," a joky throwaway from a couple years back.

Paydirt marks their first serious bid for airplay, with help from former Dash drummer Fred LeBlanc, who's now making waves with Cowboy Mouth. He tones down the band's novelty side, bringing out a more streamlined mix of pop/country and '60s garage. They even do a couple of love songs they likely would have thrown out in the past. The disc's most obvious single, "She's Got a Lot Of," is produced to sound like one. With a mournful lyric and Cajun fiddle, "Markers Down" is as far from the usual Dash as it gets. But the proudly stoopid guitar/girlfriend metaphor of "String You Up" proves they haven't grown all the way up.

-- Brett Milano