Let the Good Times Roll

The first listen of JD McPherson's own brand of rockabilly is not all that different from rolling onto the tracks of an oncoming freight train and being T-boned for 36 minutes. That force...that crash…that wild attack. That’s McPherson's Let the Good Times Roll. The Oklahoman's sophomore effort is a raucous throwback rock that's fun, pure, and nostalgic of a time when life and television were black and white.

We've been listening to a lot of blues lately: Muddy Waters, Darondo, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson...Gary Clark Jr., Benjamin Booker. JD McPherson’s sound is reminiscent of the earliest days of rock ’n’ roll, when blues and country were essential ingredients in its sound. He douses all 11 songs with plate reverb (a vintage effect which essentially turns everything into space music). But McPherson, like Jack White and The Black Keys before him, infuses a cocktail of subtle influences from punk rock to hip-hop.

"Bossy," "Shy Boy," and "Head Over Heels" will have you turning it up to 11—their hooks, handclaps, and fuzz baritone guitar buzzing through your head and your hips. The entire album is a riot.