Record Review: The Charms

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By L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / GZO

Fronted by the sweet but sassy Ellie Vee, The Charms are, well, charming.

Always impressive on stage, the Boston rock band has just released its fourth record. Like its predecessor, “So Pretty,” the disc is an excellent sampling of what is now called garage rock. That is the label given to music that draws on rock ’n’ roll past from the girl groups of the ’50s and ’60s to the earliest punk bands.

The mix includes: the catchy melody with dive-bombing guitar interlude of “So Romantic;” the pure pop of “Here’s To You,” and “LTD,” a song that recalls the Go-Gos and provides the record’s title phrase as well as the buzzing, breathy “Lost Child;” the swaggering but biting “Star Rider;” the seductive, lusty wailer “Touch;” the hard-driving, drum-driven “The Wolf;” the easy swinging acoustic “She’s Waiting;” and “Broken Heart,” a girl group song with only one girl singing.

Lyrically, the album’s opener, “American Way,” has some political intent. But the rest of the record is rock ’n’ roll through and through, with songs about cars, relationships gone good and bad, and “My Friends,” which chugs along with a perfectly cheesy organ.

“Strange Magic” was produced by Jim Diamond, Detroit’s master of all things garage, and it’s one of those records that grows on you each time you listen to it. In classic rock ’n’ roll fashion, its 12 songs clock in at 35 minutes. That’s less than three minutes each, which is how rock ’n’ roll is supposed to be made.

“Strange Magic” is one of the first releases on Wicked Cool Records, a new label established by Little Steven Van Zandt that specializes in what disc jockey Bill Kelly calls “the real rock ’n’ roll” as played in the Underground Garage, Van Zandt’s syndicated radio show and Sirius Satellite Radio channel. The Wicked Cool Records, now in limited release, are available at Best Buy stores or online.