HOT AND SPICY

DAN HICKS & THE HOT LICKS
Tangled Tales
Surfdog Records

Dan Hicks used to drum with the acid rock band The Charlatans. That was the last time anyone could pigeonhole him. Hicks chucked the rock god scene for … you name it! Tangled Tales is musical jambalaya—spicy and chocked full of ingredients. You’ll hear Django Reinhardt licks one moment, Hawaiian guitar the next, plus everything from jug band and country-swing to cowboy jazz and bluegrass. Not even Dylan would recognize what Hicks and slide-guitarist Roy Rogers do to “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” “Blues My Naughty Baby” sounds like jump jazz from the 1940s, and the title track is what you’d get if you threw the Andrews Sisters, Cab Calloway, and bennies into a blender. Quirkiness and dry wit infuse this album, and sidemen like Rogers, Charlie Musselwhite, and David Grissman make sure the jambalaya is well seasoned.