Tie Your Noose

The parlor trick of two-member garage-rock-blues bands (Flat Duo Jets, Mojo Nixon, White Stripes) is sawed in half by Mark Sultan's one-man-wonder. With the aid of foot pedals, Sultan strikes up rudimentary, yet surprisingly dance-worthy backbeats for his infectuous rhythm guitar playing. He's equal parts Pebbles garage rock ("Outta My Mind"), slap-echo rockabilly ("Burn This Town" and a cover of The Stones' "Out of Time" filtered through "Summertime Blues"), and R&B crooner (the Sam Cooke styled "Don't You Hold Out on Me" and "Shake Real Low," and the barn-burning "Waddlin' Around"). If these sides had been recorded in the late '50s, they would have no doubt served as inspiration for The Wailers and Kingsmen as they cut loose in the frats. Instead, they're delivered through a magical med-fi portal just in time for your summer cookout dance party.