Br5-49 are a bar band getting the big push. A residency at Robert's, a Western-wear store in Nashville, has made the quintet a tourist attraction on Music Row, the hook being the group's encyclopedic command of the honky-tonk canon. A country band that actually knows its roots – what a gimmick! Swinging with loose-limbed fervor, BR5-49 electrify '50s country and bluegrass, casting their own songs in period styles while pumping up classics like Webb Pierce's "I Ain't Never" and Ray Price's "Crazy Arms" with rockabilly riffs.

Taking their name from a Junior Samples skit on TV's Hee Haw, BR5-49 are not stuffy purists but a well-versed boogie band a la early '70s outfits such as Asleep at the Wheel and Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen – attacking Western swing with a healthy sense of humor and real musical acumen. Although BR5-49 can come across as wild-eyed and beery, as the recent Live at Robert's EP proved, these guys have serious chops.

On BR5-49, the up-tempo numbers and novelty songs fare best. "Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts)" describes a punk rocker's musical conversion with a sly wink and a boot-stomping chorus. "One Long Saturday Night" celebrates the working musician's treadmill existence with an exuberant guitar shuffle; it's nice to be reminded that high energy isn't exclusive to rock & roll.

Singers and guitarists Chuck Mead and Gary Bennett stumble only when they get serious. They reverently approach the Byrds' "Hickory Wind" and slow it down to a dirgeful pace, their ragged harmonies and somewhat pinched voices suggesting the Everly Brothers with a bad hangover. The chorus of "Lifetime to Prove" puts a twist on a familiar catch phrase ("I got one foot in the door, I just want one more"), but the verses lack any supporting detail. While BR5-49 capture the good-time spirit of country music, they pass over a lot of the heartbreak and soulfulness.

It remains to be seen whether BR5-49 develop as songwriters or devolve into a novelty act. Right now, BR5-49 deliver a barroom kick at a time when we could use one. The cooking grooves make the corn easier to swallow. (RS 748)

MARK COLEMAN