While BR5-49 is certainly one of the more refreshing products to sneak out the side door of the Nashville "Clone-of-the-month" Manufacturing Co.--I'm troubled to report that their sophomore release, Big Backyard Beat Show, is a bit of a disappointment. The formula is pretty much unchanged, (rockabilly till you're silly), the songs still have the same crackle and bop, but there's just not a lot to them. On their debut effort the BR's were to Hank Williams what the Mavericks are to Roy Orbison, but this time out, they're more like the Stray Cats without the pizzazz. Several of the songs on Backyard cross over into the "retro swing" territory of bands like Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy--which would be perfectly acceptable if the songs weren't so forgettable.

The album gets off to a promising start with a snappy rendition of Buck Owens' "There Goes My Love," but it definitely goes down hill the rest of the way. If you're familiar with the Mavericks you may know that they'll use the corniest love-song cliche's in the book, as long as they get to a heart rending melody. On Big Backyard the BR's rattle off plenty of clever turns-of-phrase, but there isn't a memorable melody to be found.

The album is most definitely an exercise in fun toe-tapping country grooves, but overall this batch of "done me wrong" songs, (many of which are covers) is far from satisfying. BR5-49 take their name from a telephone number in "Hee Haw," and despite this sub-par outing, they're still one of the coolest things happening in country music. Their on-stage charisma is what makes them so much fun--but their hat-and-tie, tongue-in-cheek charm just doesn't translate that well onto tape--particularly on Big Backyard.

If you're a fan of alternative country (i.e. Mavericks, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle) I'd rather see you spend your money on BR5-49's self-titled debut. There's a song on it called "Cherokee Boogie" that you could listen to 549 times in a row and say, "come on one more time, let's make it an even 550."