Alright, all you swingcats. Cool down your dogs for a few and listen up. It's Old Blue Eyes here, and I'm gonna sing the praises of some hip swingers that call themselves Royal Crown Review. They've been swingin' up a storm for a while now, and these big time players of the movement have a new plate for you to spin, The Contender.

These kids know how to play the game. There ain't no ring-a-ding shakes to their music. It's all tight and solid, and if you've heard fellow cats Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra, and the like, you've heard what these guys dish out. It ain't Prima, Jordan, or Armstrong, but it's still swing, and swing is the thing.

These guys play a wow-ee, wow, wow kind of groove. Their brand of retro plays up to the pop culture icons of the postwar frame. They know how to have fun and they ain't afraid to show it. When their music goes bombsville, they dwell on the punk image of the times and on gorgeous pinup broads. Cuts like "Walkin' Like Brando" and "Port-Au-Prince (Travels with Betty Page)" are too cartoony to be anything but mediocre-- they don't even get to first base.

Maybe Ted Templeman, who worked with those Van Halen punks, wasn't the best cat to glue this all together. But you'll have a ring-a-ding time swingin' to it anyhow. I mean, these guys are far from raining on my parade, but they've got a way to go before they can play the same clam-bakes as me. Time for me to cash out. Hot-cha!

-Duane Ambroz