Paul McCartney

The idea sounds good on paper: Sir Paul throws together a band with the intention of returning to the early Beatles’ work ethic, covering obscure B-sides from the late ’50s and recording them live from the floor with little rehearsal and lots of energy. Something, however, goes horribly wrong. Maybe it’s the ready-for-retirement age of the band, or maybe just the inescapable allure of modern studio gadgetry, but the record sounds slick and tired, not savage and young. It’s a shame — McCartney himself sounds excellent, singing with a passion I haven’t heard from him in decades, especially on rockers like Larry Williams’s “She Said Yeah,” Big Joe Turner’s “Honey Hush” and on rockabilly tunes like Gene Vincent’s “Blue Jean Bop” and Carl Perkins’s “Movie Magg.” Too bad it sounds like he borrowed his band from Huey Lewis.