A lot can happen in five years, especially if you’re a nationally touring band sandwiched between an auspicious debut and a long awaited sophomore release. In all actuality, these exuberant tracks that celebrate the mischief, mystery, misery and pulse of the Cajun cultural experience should have hit the streets long before this, but the good news is that it was certainly worth the wait. Though Charivari is configured like a typical Cajun quintet (accordion, guitar, fiddle, and rhythm section), Jonno Frishberg plays only a handful of tunes on the loud little box and the lion’s share on fiddle. Along with powerhouse Mitch Reed, what’s really on tap here is the most ferocious twin fiddling on this side of galaxy—Reed’s heavy drones, monster slides and an undeniable Creole influence neatly dovetails with Frishberg’s sublime, single-note playing. The two feed off each other immensely, constantly raising the bar for another inspired lick while reeling and rocking into fiddle heaven ecstasy. Besides the scintillating renditions of “One-Step de McGee” and “Reel Deshotels” (instrumentals that artfully segue from Shirley Bergeron’s “Quelle Etoile,” a vocal classic), world music fusions abound. Frishberg incorporates an appreciation for Yiddish Klemzer on the one-of-its-kind “Cajun Klemzer Breakdown;” Reed and Frishberg drive relentlessly on the Celtic-inspired “Knife Fight Reel.” Michael Doucet’s “Zydeco Gris Gris” is prefaced with a Middle Eastern foray with the aptly named “Persia.” Innovative, hell yeah, but their great dancehall buoyancy, as noted by Nathan Abshire’s rolling “Sur Le Courtableu” and Willis Touchet’s free-flowing “It’s Lonesome in Prison,” is never sacrificed simply for art’s sake. Guitarist Randy Vidrine still has the pipes to be among the best crooners in Cajun music and who could drop the beat given the airtight rhythm section of bassist Bo Ledet and smackin’ drummer Matt Swiler? A dazzling triumph to say the least, one that’s fueled and fired by fiddles.