The three scariest words in the music critique business are "new contemporary country." But in this case, give me honky tonk, balladeering, and a Roy Orbison mystique, and I'll give you the Mavericks.

Out of the most unlikely places, Miami's Mavericks might be on their way to being the next darlings of the country masses. Coming off their 1992 debut From Hell to Paradise, the foursome have just released the follow-up, What a Crying Shame.

The songs of What a Crying Shame blend a lot of the past with the new. All the licks of the classic Fifties are present. Those guitar slides, simple melodies, and honky tonk fervor paint a picture of the stroll, saddle oxfords, and horn-rimmed glasses.

The melody of "What a Crying Shame" leaves no question as to why it is the title track and the first radio single. The beauty in "I Should Have Been True" might take the band to another hit single. Every song puts me into those pre rock 'n' roll days, in a Chevy, and next to a girl wearing a quilted shirt with embroidered poodles. Give me Floyd Kramer and Dwayne Eddy.

The contemporary side of the Mavericks comes through on covering Bruce Springsteen's "All That Heaven Will Allow" and Jesse Winchester's "O What a Thrill." The Mavericks embody a contemporary flavor with an honest love for the old sounds. What a Crying Shame defines what country is to them. I wish I grew up in the Fifties.

Reviewer:  Bonn Garrett, courtesy of Flash Magazine.