Toast of the Town

Perhaps the most mature and fully-realized collection of songs by this Arlington-based band, this CD benefits from fresh-sound harmony singing and a truly solid beat. Songwriter and bandleader Karl Straub begins to ripen as a songwriter, as a stronger country influence comes in via songs such as "Carolina," absorbing just enough of his rock roots to come across with the same kind of fresh, youthful rural feel as Gram Parsons or the Byrds. Straub's guitar soloing becomes the focal point as well with the departure of lead guitarist Randy Austin, and what he begins to develop here is a nice combination of influences such as Carl Perkins and Thelonious Monk. This was also the band's first recording of traditional swing material with a cover of "All of Me," and this beginning of a more diverse musical approach seems to have marked a new and promising chapter in the band's story. But this comes across as more of a prologue, clocking in at just a bit more than a half an hour.