Chris Isaak- Beyond the Sun (Vanguard)

This album makes me giddy. This is Chris Isaak’s homage to the rockabilly he loves. Isaak and his band made this record at Sun studios in Memphis, and they effectively captured the pop and reverb of the originals. There are heaping doses of Elvis, with side tastes of Jerry Lee, Cash, and Carl, as well as more obscure Sun artists like Warren Smith (which Isaak kills on the track “So Long I’m Gone”). I had always thought that Mr. Isaak and co. channeled Ooby Orby with “Wicked Game”, and all of that, but he straight up nails the Elvis vibe on a great majority of these tracks. He never veers into parody, though. It’s more like you are listening to an Elvis outtake. This record flat gits it. You need this. It’s an oasis in the current sea of Biebers and Ke$has. My picks: I Forgot To Remember To Forget (Elvis via Charlie Feathers), She’s Not You (Elvis), So Long I’m Gone (Warren Smith).