As if the ionic toothbrush and the shower spa weren't enough, a disc lands in my mailbox filled to the brim with the seething potion of a Belfast postman doing Elvis impersonating covers of yer All- American fare. Now my teeth are clean, my bungie shines like a copper ring, and my head is aswim in the maple croon of the King covering Jimi's "Voodoo Chile." The first two are certainly good; the latter, well, I'm here to try to explain it to you today.

What All- American fare does he cover, you ask? Well, nothing says pure reviewer sincerity like a list, so here goes:

1. Come As You Are (Nirvana)
2. Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
3. Voodoo Chile (Jimi Hendrix)
4. Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC)
5. Blockbuster (Sweet)
6. Something Else (Eddie Cochran)
7. Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding)
8. Heard It Through The Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)
9. No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley)
10. New York, New York (Frank Sinatra)
11. That's Alright Mama (Elvis Presley)

If you're at all like me, this tracklist inspires a reaction of quizzical curiosity-- an Elvis impersonator covering those trax? Ours is not to ask why, my children, but to ask how.

Indeed, how does the King manage with such dead shoes to fill? Well, to start, his supporting musicians are tight as hell and keep the instrumental side together quite nicely. Then, there's James Brown's voice (yeah, the King's real name is James Brown-- O delicious irony!), a faithful, convincing reproduction of Elvis himself, except that well... Elvis is dead.

Is this a novelty album? You bet! Brown is competent and emphatic in his renditions. Such sounds you won't hear again soon, but why would you want to? It's fun to listen to, great to bust on, and has supposedly made a big splash in Europe already (I guess they're not yet drowning in Elvis impersonators over there), but let's get real. The King will get his 15 minutes, you'll drop some bucks for some cheap laffs and someday soon we'll see him again-- in the bargain bin.

-James P. Wisdom