I dig it -- Tyler Keith and his merry band of Preacher’s Kids rocking out in a Southern-styled Cramps kind of way, that is. This album has everything: healthy doses of rockabilly, blues, garage rock, plus a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. There are even references to "In With The Out Crowd" and Sam the Sham in the liner notes. Hell, it has liner notes!

Romeo Hood is Tyler Keith’s first solo effort (albeit backed by all four members of Blue Mountain, fellow Mississippians and masterminds of Black Dog Records) after departing from punk act The Neckbreakers. While songs like "Lost on a Lonesome Road" bring to mind a Smoky Mountain Gun Club, the sound fits in most comfortably with The Oblivians, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and the Gibson Brothers crowd, only less country and more hillbilly. And, yes, a bit more glam, too -- like the New York Dolls-style vocal elements of "All That Glitters Is Not Gold." The early rock-and-roll influence, a la Chuck Berry, is also strongly evident; with three guitars on the record, there’s plenty of manpower to sustain those kinds of efforts.

Why do I like this album so much? It might be because of songs like "Youth is Wasted on the Young" (a sentiment I've come to appreciate as I push 30), which is surprisingly snotty for an acoustic ballad. Or it might be because of the cover of '68 Comeback’s "Chantilly Rock." And you’ve gotta love a guy who proudly describes his friends as "lowlifes" and sings love songs to pink angora sweaters.

Romeo Hood is obviously not a painstakingly crafted album. It’s rough-n-ready, a little sloppy and a lot loose. Which is the whole point.