This one is gonna take you back. While Nick Waterhouse may get bound up with funk and soul revivalists like Sharon Jones, he's got his own thing going on. The Los Angeles based singer has pretty much nailed the early rock n' roll sound. There's plenty of deft guitar licks, precision honed rhythms and jump up piano work to go around. You get the sense that Waterhouse came to life in the 1950s and has pretty much stayed that way ever since. Along with his original material he covers songs from jazz singer Mose Allison, drummer Isaac "Red" Holt and garage-rocker Ty Segall. He sharpens up Allison's delivery on "Let It Come Down" and adds some dark sensibility to Segall's "It #3." Holly takes us back to another time, when rock n' roll was still finding its way.

• music label: Innovative Leisure Records 2014

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 03/2014