If you saw the name of this four or five piece occasionally augmented by horns and thought you might be getting a Swingin’ Medallions type garage band done up NOLA style, well, sorry, no. The Melatauns are old Arabi hands who usually dole out a tight selection of punkish bar-band originals heavily weighted down by the classic sound of old-school Crescent City R&B, but as the visual pun of their third CD’s cover makes clear, these guys are swinging in an entirely different way—ironically, it’s only now that they’re abandoning their grungy blue-eyed soul, however temporarily, for a stab at Louis Prima–style big-band music, with the occasional stylistic detours that era demands (like the Latin-surf instrumental “Baia” and the somewhat misnamed bossa nova workout “Banana Boat Mambo”).

It only goes to prove that lurking in the heart of every Crescent City rock band is a jazz combo waiting to happen, but this stylistic vacation also does the group the disservice of exposing its weak link—vocalist Patrick Ricks, whose register just isn’t geared to the more demanding intricacies of their new style. Frankly speaking, he’s flat a lot, which can’t help but put a damper on otherwise warm (though practically meaningless) genre workouts like “Coffee and Chicory” and “Day of Sunshine.” That offhand and somewhat deadpan sense of humor you expect from a NOLA bar band is still there—the obligatory Katrina song, “Blue Roof Blues,” is refreshingly light—and aside from a mistaken move into spoken-word coffeehouse territory on “Joy Ride,” the groove is authentic. But swinging when you’re used to rocking requires more than just a shift in tempo and rhythm. Especially in this town.