Back in 1981 they seemed more interested in their clothes and haircuts than their music, but in retrospect the Stray Cats were a pivotal band in American rock's mid-Eighties roots revival. Blast Off, the band's reunion album, reintroduces the Long Island trio as rockabilly revivalists supreme, which both makes sense and stifles the group.

Blast Off rocks hard but looks backward. Guitarist and singer Brian Setzer's solo records (especially his brave Knife Feels Just Like Justice) expanded on rockabilly rhythms yet never severed the connection; drummer Slim Jim Phantom and bassist Lee Rocker's records with Earl Slick weren't as bold, but they also made pains to develop their sound. So it's disappointing to hear the reconstituted trio revert to rehashed Carl Perkins and Billy Lee Riley riffs without adding much to them. Song titles like "Everybody Needs Rock 'n' Roll," "Rockabilly Rules," "Rockabilly World" and "Bring It Back Again" underscore the point that the Stray Cats' eyes are fixed on the rearview mirror: They're moving fast, but they're retracing their own tracks.

Even though Blast Off condemns the Stray Cats to revivalist status, there's much here to please rockabilly fans. The chugging, pop-a-billy "Gina" is infectious, and almost every song offers something – a clever paraphrase of a riff, a tossed-off vocal aside, a sly groove – that warrants hearing. But you've heard much of this before, either on the band's previous records or on the recordings of their idols. More power to Phantom, Rocker and Setzer for keeping the rockabilly faith – they've succeeded in bringing the music to a new generation that needs it – but they should use their status as a cushion, challenging themselves and their audience. Otherwise, they're just a rockabilly Sha Na Na. (RS 552)

JIMMY GUTERMAN