The Rubinoos: Crimes Against Music (2003)

(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )

The Rubinoos
Crimes Against Music
(Zip)

An all-covers album by a great cover band--what could there be not to love? Well, for an alternate “Bend Me, Shape Me” I’ll take the Amen Corner’s, and although I’d never heard the original “Thorn in My Side” or “Up in a Puff of Smoke” until this album’s quite good versions had me tracking them down, I now like the originals better. But try as I might, I can’t find the originals of Utopia’s “There Goes My Inspiration” or Lou Christie’s “If My Car Could Only Talk,” so these will probably be the versions I burn onto my next mix disc along with the a cappella “Heroes and Villains,” which the Beach Boys deserve to get beaten to for not putting out a vocal-tracks mix of their own by now. Still uncoverable after all these years: Looking Glass, Elvis Costello, Del Shannon, and the Sweet. Rating: Three flamin’ groovies out of five.