Album Notes

Boston Globe review of WATTS ON THE DIAL

They may have nicked their moniker from the surname of reclusive Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, but this Boston foursome is a lot less gentlemanly, and a lot more loud. The band members do have one thing in common with their namesake, though: They too play in a band built on a bedrock of riff-powered songs that have as much to do with swagger as they do melody. Watts also stoke the twin-engine guitar charge of Keith Richards and Ron Wood, although gruff-voiced singer-guitarist Dan Kopko sings better than both, and lead axe John Blout’s tough, blistering solos are closer in spirit to the knotty workouts of AC/DC’s Angus Young (songs like “Afterburn’’ are ripped right from the “Highway to Hell’’ playbook). Add to the stew a sweetening sprinkle of Cheap Trick’s rock candy, a helping of KISS’s cartoon glam, and a sturdy rhythm section to stir the pot (Neighborhoods/Dirty Truckers drummer Johnny Lynch and bassist Craig LaPointe), and you’ve got a failsafe recipe for an album that sounds like a night on the town. Sure, old-fashioned workouts like “Dancehall Days & Nights’’ tap an ancient vein that began with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and has mainlined through a billion garage-rock bands ever since; but that’s the addictive, enduring genius of the stuff. Yes, we’ve heard it before. And yes, we want to hear it again. Just ask Charlie Watts. - Jonathan Perry