Three Day Weekend

With its Wurlitzer harmonies and wah-wah guitar splashes echoing Earth, Wind & Fire-like singalong vocals by Calvin Baugh, the opening track on Evan Marks' Three Day Weekend - "I Like My Wah Wah Funky" leads us to believe we might have stumbled upon yet another soul-colored 70s tribute. But Marks does even more impressive time traveling than that; he runs the gamut from the surf guitar 60's through the heavy metal 80s and on into the trip-hop production of the current decade. Digging into the low registers of the Fender and Gretch guitars on "Shakedown," Marks creates an atmosphere that could work with any spy thriller of the 60s - if only Rob Whitlock's alternating on Wurlitzer and B-3 didn't thrust the melodic core into the 70s so often. Even more powerful are the in your face, Van Halen like crunching vamps which propel "Antarctica" (whose main melody Marks plays in a less aggressive Wes Montgomery style, albeit over edgy electronic percussion) and "No Fly Zone, " which features a powerful duality by Marks and one of Art Porter's last guest spots on alto (the album is dedicated to his memory).