Since we were children, we've been told never to judge a book by its cover. So why is our tendency to do so nearly always correct? Case in point, the debut LP from Atlanta-via-NYC's Lower East Side mod boys the Forty Fives. Get It Together's artwork is a highly stylized group of photos: the wrap-around shades, the skinny black ties, the tasty chrome headlight accents-- these guys definitely have it down. And sure enough, once the album's opener, "Get Out," kicks in with full-on, Hammond organ wailing predictably and standard Delta-via-Mersey guitar, you certainly get what you came for.

This is what we came for, isn't it? Didn't VH1 just choose the Stones' "Satisfaction" as the best song ever? The Forty Fives take the hint admirably, constructing that 1960s rock sound on track after track, the way only three 1990s guys from NYC's Lower East Side can. On songs like "Drive All Night" and "Anytime at All," the trio's believeable posturing and sufficient vox-and-guitar attitude are all that's needed to make some real worthwhile, albeit unnecessary, rock and roll. Unfortunately, it's when the boys take the smallest step out of their strict boundaries that they really fail miserably. The country inflected "King of Mexico" takes a stab at a Lennon/McCartney-esque tongue-in-cheek vignette, but what develops is comparable to a third generation low-toner photocopy.

The title track, and the album's only ballad, is a noir-stroll that's not as long as it seems; 'saving-grace' award goes to producer Matt Chiaravelle for some exceptional work on the bridge. (So good, in fact, I wonder what he was doing during the rest of the sessions.) By the time we reach "When You Least Expect It," a simple blues riff over that same double-snare back-beat is exactly what's expected, and just doesn't cut it.

-Steve Brezenoff