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For music to retain its vital edge, it must keep pushing forward. Trying new things, seeking out new songs; those are key to music remaining vital. It’s a clumsy metaphor, but music is like a shark: it simply has to keep moving. When things get moribund, eventually something comes along to give music a swift kick up the arse (so to speak). It happened with punk, in many ways a reaction to \u201ccorporate rock\u201d of the 70s (and not, I’d argue, so much as a reaction to arty\/progressive music; think of how many so-called punks were art school students, how many liked, say, Can<\/strong>, even if they didn’t admit it).<\/p>\n But there’s nothing wrong with an occasional look back over one’s musical shoulder, a revisiting of the sounds and musical aesthetics of the past. The value of such an approach is evident in some ways through the current resurgence of popularity of \u201cclassic soul.\u201d It wasn’t that many years ago that a band like Charles Bradley and the Extraordinaires<\/strong><\/a>, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings<\/strong>, or Lee Fields<\/strong><\/a> couldn’t get a headlining gig. But now they do, and the music scene is far better for it being so.<\/p>\n Back in early 2010 I reviewed a thrilling album by former Fabulous Thunderbirds<\/strong><\/a> guitarist Nick Curran<\/strong>: his Reform School Girls<\/em><\/a> was a knowing pastiche of the rawest 50s sounds, filtered through a modern (postpunk) sensibility. Sadly, Curran passed away far too young, leaving that album as his final recorded musical statement.<\/p>\n Happily, however, there’s another musician of note who’s covering similar (but not identical) musical ground today. JD McPherson<\/strong>‘s Let the Good Times Roll<\/em> is another slab of musical red meat. I missed him on his recent swing through Asheville, but Let the Good Times Roll<\/em> is pretty exciting for a studio recording. On this, McPherson’s sophomore release, the wild and reckless feel of early rock’n’roll (as captured on the essential Loud, Fast & Out of Control<\/em> box set) is brought forth largely intact to the second decade of the 21st<\/sup> century, informing the music with a knowledge and understanding of all the hard rock that came in the wake of those early pioneers.<\/p>\n As such, Let the Good Times Roll<\/em> is more timeless than retro-minded. And though its overall feel is decidedly uptempo, not every track is balls-out rocking. Among the subtle numbers is the standout \u201cBridgebuilder,\u201d which shows the influence of Otis Redding<\/strong><\/a>, Sam Cooke<\/strong> and the like. The production aesthetic on Let the Good Times Roll<\/em> does sometimes recall Phil Spector<\/strong> or Shadow Morton<\/strong> (or Sun Studios<\/a>) at times, but even on that score McPherson somehow updates and modernizes things.<\/p>\n