...en Hillbilly Caliente

Atomic 7: Brian Connelly .
Atomic 7 are back, with another solid offering of rocking instrumentals and some of the best song titles of the new millennium. It's got the same sound as their debut, and pretty much the same sound as Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, but guitarist Brian Connelly and his crack rhythm section handle this stuff with such skill and ease that it doesn't get tiresome. There's a bit of country flavor on some of these tunes, with "Devil's Mittens" sounding like it was lifted from the Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant songbook, but they fit perfectly with the more surf-inspired sounds. Just like the first album, the quality of the songs never dips, and it's almost surprising how many catchy tunes they can come up with. If you've got a jones for some modern surf/country instros, you can't go wrong with Atomic 7. ~ Sean Westergaard