Hooverdam

There's something irresistible about the sight of a grizzled 60-year-old man making scrappy, pared-down, punk-inflected power pop, especially when he's doing it as part of a no-frills trio. Hugh Cornwell, former leader of the legendary Stranglers, has never really gone away, but those who may have lost track of him since the Stranglers split have a great opportunity to remake their acquaintance with him on this very fine album. Those who had a hard time warming up to the Stranglers because of that band's unsure way with a melody will still find Cornwell's writing somewhat dry, but these days he makes up for it with sheer energetic tightness. Songs like "Banging on at the Same Old Beat" and "Wrong Side of the Tracks" are charmingly self-deprecating, and both evoke the late '70s in an entirely salutary way; the wryly titled "Philip K. Ridiculous" (get it? get it?) is a very fun instrumental; "Going to the City" sounds like a nod to Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (every songwriter commits at least one of those during his or her career); and "Please Don't Put Me on a Slow Boat to Trowbridge," despite its slightly amateurish lyrical structure, is lots of fun as well.