With their alter egos fresh out of RCA's recording studio (to the tune of a 30 million dollar contract), Billy Gibson, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard, aka ZZ Top, have reintroduced themselves with the release of their newest album, Antenna.

The first track, "Pincushion," conjures up the ghosts of souped-up roadsters, Harleys, and hot looking babes within seconds thanks to Gibson's trademark electronically blown out leads that offer no mind-bending surprises. But due to his long standing love affair with the fuzzbox and its infinite variations, Gibson turns wisely chosen notes into playdough as he approaches their elastic limits. But when the smoke clears, his vorsuvian leads make up the bulk of the ZZ signature.

Ever since the touring triage hooked up and started playing in their unique style which mixes elements from blues and soul with rock, they haven't really changed the original recipe. Working off slight variations of this recipe for the past twenty years while remaining one of the top touring bands in the U.S., Antenna reconfirms the successful formula.

Mixing their music with their stylelistic play-on-words lyrics and vocals as smooth as raw wheat germ, Antenna is deliciously appealing.

Unless your a diehard Lawrence Welk fan, you can party to this ZZ.

Reviewer:  Tom Elliott, courtesy of Flash Magazine.