Last summer the father-son, dressed-to-the-nines zydeco tandem Leo and Leeroy Thomas had hopes of being the first z-band to release consecutive discs within nine months. A month after their dog days release, Leo Thomas Is A Sunama-Gun, Beau Jocque released Check It Out, Lock It In, Crank It Up (Rounder) only to be followed by his Mardi Gras Records debut Zydeco Giant seven months later.

In any event, their sophomore disc will probably rank among the better zydeco platters of the year and for good reason. Leeroy’s five originals make for solid dance material and lyrically are often entertaining. The opening cut “Trail Ride” refers to the unlikely event of taking a taxi to the big ride; “Big Foot” quotes a line: “Drinkin My Whiskey Drinkin’ My Wine Drinkin My Beer, Hope I don’t die.” (Burp.)

The title song has all the familiar “bad, bad woman” testimonies that are humorously justified by the infamous line: ”I’m A Bad Sucka For Ya. ” Leeroy closed out his half-dozen with an uncredited rendition of Clifton Chenier‘s “I’m a Hog For You Baby.”

The next six tracks are Leo’s, one of zydeco’s few singing drummers. Because of the way the vocals and the drums were inadvertently miked together, there’s a bit of distortion on the low end but it actually does render an outdoor live feel. In short, it’s an accurate portrayal of how hard the hard-hitting Leo pounds the skins, with thunderous drum rolls and deafening cymbal crashes.

Song-wise, “Seniorita” carries a nice melodic flow while the traditional “Oh Carlin” waltz is stirring enough to get the most sedentary couch potato up and at ’em. There’s a few painfully slow soul cuts that conversely sport a township vibe with Ken Navy’s sax playing.

Yet it’s tunes like the barrel-down boogie of”Oh Yi Yi” that answers the question who’s a band easy to zydeco to. And when the beat is as solid as their’s, it’s easy to become a bad sucka for it