R.E.M. and Jason and The Scorchers set the precedent, and the Georgia Satellites scored the Top Five hit, so there seem to be more Southern guitar bands around now than there were a decade ago, when bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd were all the rage. Some merely add a drawl to their hackneyed hard-rock stylings; others, like North Carolina's aptly named Accelerators, add some wit and casual rowdiness to the formula. The Accelerators engage primarily in tried-and-true forms, but they almost always put a spin on your expectations.

The Accelerators' original songs, most written by singer and rhythm guitarist Gerald Duncan, push at the edges of roots rock. "Two Girls in Love" slaps a pop hook worthy of the Box Tops onto an unexpected subject, and "Radio" is a wry, corrosive American-underground anthem. But it's on the album's two covers that the quartet really sets itself apart from the roots-rock pack. A slow, bluesy take on the 1957 Sparkletones hit "Black Slacks" staggers across in a whiplash rockabilly, Saturday-night style, and the band closes the album by pummeling out an ace version of the Box Tops' hit "The Letter." The Accelerators enliven trusty forms without regurgitating them. (RS 526)

JIMMY GUTERMAN