Drinkin' Songs and Smokin' Guitars (CCDV, 1999)

Chicken Coupe DeVille has the kind of intense chemistry that sounds asthough it's been forged on a rockabilly anvil for a decade, but the quartet has been together for only two or three years at best. The San Jose, Cal. band's debut was designed as a fan premium, but wound up in the hands of noted Nashville reb Ray Kennedy, who offered a studio hand with the sophomore album. Their collective efforts are offered up on the scorchingly propulsive new disc.

CCDV works a blistering groove that shimmers and shakes in the raucous neighborhood of Dave Edmunds, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and the New DuncanImperials. With wicked hairpin licks ("Hog Wild," "Coffee & Cigarettes") and not the slightest chance that they'll take any of it seriously ("I Seen Her First," "Ain't Above Lyin'"), CCDV set up on every corner of a very eclectic intersection, incorporating country, punk, rockabilly and surf into their overall sound.

The band's sonic crazy quilt of influence assures that the proceedings are never boring as the atmosphere clicks from Bakersfield hoedown to SoCal punk showdown in a matter of minutes. One thing is certainf if Chicken Coupe DeVille is having this much fun in the studio, their stage show must be measured on the Richter scale. (CCDV, 1556 Halford Ave., #202, Santa Clara, CA 95051, 408-278-5366, E-Mail: info@chickencoupe.com)