Hamburger James   Last Plane To Memphis This quator from Richmond, Virginia takes his name from one member of the Memphis Mafia, whose job was to bring burgers to Elvis whenever he needed it. With such a name it's no surprise to hear the influence of the King all along this album (that comes in a well designed digipack by the way). But influence doesn't mean copy. They just take some elements, from the Sun days (That's Allright) to the 60's (Little Sister) via the classic RCA 50's sound (Red Dress features some fine Scotty Moore licks), assimilate them and turn them their own to give their brand of rockabilly/rock'n'roll, a music with roots but not dated, with a majority of self penned songs. Andy Vaughan, the lead singer, has a great voice that finds him equally at ease with straight rockabilly, wild rock àla Little Richard ("Rumble Tonight") or the soulfull "Are You One?" that features an Hammond B3, I bet those who like The Paladins' "You & I" will love this one too. Country music is well represented too with notably "Ounces At A Time", a solid honky tonk with piano and the Cash-esque "The Story Of Hamburger James". "Wait For The Morning" is one of my very fave, a beautiful ballad with Roy Orbison's accents that wouldn't be out of plave in Chris Isaak's set. A female guest singer, Jennifer Vaughan, is present on Janis Martin's Bang Bang, a way to pay hommage to the rockabilly queen the band backed as one of their first gig. Plenty of styles for a solid and original debut album. Available at cdbaby. Fred "Virgil" Turgis