Artist:     NRBQ

Album:     All Hopped Up

Label:     Omnivore Recordings

Release Date:     10.26.18

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Completely oblivious to the late-1970s emergence of punk-rock savagery, slick new wave and suave disco, NRBQ’s fifth album All Hopped Up arrived in 1977 with a shit-eating grin on its face ready for a fresh start. New drummer Tom Ardolino made an immediate impression, with his neat, spiffy beats, and guitarist Al Anderson, set free from previous contractual obligations, finally debuted his sublime songwriting talents for NRBQ, as All Hopped Up became the first release on the band’s own label, Red Rooster Records.

More importantly, All Hopped Up was the maiden voyage—at least on record—of the longest-running version of NRBQ, featuring Ardolino, Anderson, Terry Adams and Joey Spampinato, and they were up for anything, as Omnivore Recordings’ recent reissue makes plain. Authoritative, enlightening liner notes from John DeAngelis, a few vintage photos and a handful of well-chosen bonus tracks collected in a fairly humble package let the spotlight shine on the brilliance of the original LP. It’s as lean and economical as NRBQ’s crisp and clean musicianship, which makes the spry pop buoyancy and tangled hooks of “Still in School,” “Ridin’ in My Car” and “That’s Alright”—echoes of The Beach Boys, Big Star and The Byrds lingering in their light breezes—so smart and charming. “Call Him Off, Rogers” is even bouncier, while the vivid psychedelic swirl of “Things to Do” bathes in Beatles’ nostalgia, specifically the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band era.

With Adams and Spampinato producing, NRBQ was in full DIY mode, bringing in the Whole Wheat Horns for the first time and letting trombonist Donn Adams and saxophone player Keith Spring spread brassy sunshine all over the jazzy zephyrs of “Queen Talk” and the rich, bluesy groove plowing of “Honey Hush.” Fun extras like “Do the Bump,” with its infectious, halting R&B strut, and the jazz-country warmth of “She’s Got to Know” offer even more diversity, NRBQ’s calling card, while “Start it Over” is just catchy, vintage rock ‘n’ roll goodness that has Jerry Lee Lewis’ howling swagger and swing. Great balls of fire, indeed.

—Peter Lindblad