When I popped the new album from Kid Eggplant and the Groovy Melatauns into my disc player and hit play, I had to check twice to make sure I wasn’t still tuned into WWOZ. The first few songs on the album sound like they would be perfectly at home on Billy Delle’s legendary program “Records from the Crypt” or any of the other 1950s rhythm-and-blues programs on the local independent station.

The honking saxophones, the trilling keyboards and plaintive vocals that define the timeless music of the era jump out of the speakers. Backing vocals of the girl group variety are understated, but eloquent guitar work underpins the songs.

The tunes, from the opener, “Flipped That Top,” with lyrics straight out of the pissed-off woman-drunken-husband songbook, to “Summertime Starlight,” with a brilliant sax intro by Johnny Panino and wistful lead vocals from Pat Ricks, all clock in at around four minutes or considerably less—perfect for a 45 RPM record.

The ballad, “You’re My Destiny,” also sung by Ricks, positively bleeds the kind of pathos made famous by singers like Johnny Adams and Chuck Carbo. The sax solo is right out of the Lee Allen playbook.

But after the first five tracks, the album shifts sharply as if we have left the 1950s and entered the heady days of the early 1960s with a different, more muscular musical footprint and echoes of lesser-known British invasion bands. The searing guitar work on “Now Hole Up!,” from former Neville Brothers’ guitar slinger Brian Stoltz rips a hole through the center of the song.

The album, which spans 31 minutes, was recorded during the pandemic and is fun and groovy just like the classic 1960s artwork that graces the cover. It is the perfect antidote to these troubled times.

To learn more about Kid Eggplant and the Groovy Melatauns, click here.