His voice as big and dark as his black Stetson, Raul Malo hints at Roy Orbison's scary sadness – and that, along with the ensemble precision of the Mavericks, makes for country music that kicks. Last year's From Hell to Paradise was a cool major-label debut; this disc is sharper. These cowboys hail from Miami, but their psychic reference point is Western – the band's snap recalls Buck Owens – and their covers (Springsteen's "All That Heaven Will Allow," Jesse Winchester's "O What a Thrill") cross borders with imagination. Yet it's with originals such as "There Goes My Heart" and "I Should Have Been True" that Malo hits jukebox pay dirt – songs with the deep thrust of the earliest rock & roll. (RS 677)

PAUL EVANS