Designed for two-stepping and beer drinking, Western swing – now all but extinct – is an intoxicating blend of jazz, mariachi, cowboy songs, blues and country & western that's perfect for the heart of Saturday night. It's taken Asleep at the Wheel, a hipper-than-hip band of latter-day cowboy pickers from Austin by way of Berkeley, to keep the species alive. And Western Standard Time stands as the band's tribute to those who came before, from Bob Wills ("San Antonio Rose") and Ernest Tubb ("Walking the Floor over You") to lunatic-fringer Commander Cody ("Hot Rod Lincoln"). But in true Wheel fashion, Ray Benson and company manage to add plenty of hot licks and good times to the equation. (RS 548)

HOLLY GLEASON