Dr. Horsemachine & The Moneynotes

Dr. Horsemachine and his Moneynotes dance along that precarious razor’s edge between hokey and awesome in much the same way that Luther Wright & the Wrongs did on their tribute to The Wall. Crack musicianship and obvious gushing affection for chicken pickin’ mountain country bluegrass raise somewhat trivial tales of uppity broads ("Bitch”) and pirate penance ("A Pirates Confession”) out of goofball territory into gigantically enjoyable, if somewhat disposable, barn dance boogies. The pleading, matter-of-fact voice of singer Mike Williams and the virtuosic fiddlin’ and be-boppin’ piano runs hop along nicely atop the flawless and entirely subtle rhythm section. At six songs, the record ends the party a little early but so what? When it’s this much fun it’s easy to set the player to repeat.