Numbers with Wings

This five-song EP (now available, along with Beat Hotel, on a single CD) marks several upgrades in the Bongos' career. They have added second guitarist James Mastro, moved up to RCA Records, and brought in producer Richard Gottehrer. Gottehrer, who has a sharp sense of rock & roll dynamics (listen to his work on the Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back"), is a felicitous choice, and the added instrumentation (and no doubt better-budgeted recording and mixing) allows the Bongos to better realize their pop sound. As a result, songs like "Numbers with Wings," with its echoed vocals and full sound, have the kind of epic sweep Richard Barone's compositions have always suggested without achieving before. Not that the band has become overblown--just fulfilled. ~ William Ruhlmann