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North Mississippi Allstars - Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO Records)

It has been a steady ride for the North Mississippi Allstars. Over the course of five years, the band has become its very own institution of the blues, attracting all walks of life in music like Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Lucinda Williams, and the legendary R.L. Burnside. Their fourth album, Electric Blue Watermelon, finds the band trading their marathon jam sessions for more concisely polished songs. The fat stomp remains but what's slightly lost in the mix is the dirty muck that gave the band their raw edge.

As a trio, Luther Dickinson (guitar), brother Cody (drums), and Chris Chew (bass) haven't sounded better. Producer Jim Dickinson, father of Luther and Cody, keeps the band's loose stage presence while getting a tight performance out of the them. Dickinson helped produce the band's 2001 album 51 Phantom. What sets the North Mississippi Allstars apart from other blues acts of today is their willingness to go beyond the traditional blues structure that becomes repetitive, building on itself without ever branching out. Still rooted in the blues of their native Mississippi hill country, the North Mississippi Allstars find new ways to keep the blues fresh while respecting its past. The album's title is said to come from the name of a band once led by Memphis blues musician Lee Baker in the 1960s. So, it can't be argued that the Allstars don't know their history.

Any one musician in the band can easily lead the charge in a song. But when all three are locked into gear they make one hell of a sound. "Teasin' Brown" runs just a little over three and a half minutes but you can close your eyes and imagine the band turning on a dime to make the song last twenty minutes. The lyrical hooks--something that on record the band can either be hit or miss--varies from time to time throughout the album. A key weapon that seems to never falter in the band's arsenal and make up for the sometimes soft lyrics is their ear for a musical hook--the groove. "Stompin' My Foot" plays up on some funk. "Bang Bang Lulu" could have been an up-tempo B-side to The Beatles' "Yer Blues." There's a bit of The Black Crowes that echoes during "Deep Blue Sea" while Lucinda Williams lends her dirty pipes on "Hurry Up Sunrise."

Overall, Electric Blue Watermelon is a breezy album that doesn't divert too far from the North Mississippi Allstars' style of boogie shakin' blues. Already a sharp live act, the band still shows the potential to make the studio a place where the energy they create on stage becomes something so much more than just a straightforward performance album.