Pay Before You Pump (Imprint, 1996)

Just what "roots rock" means is anyone's guess. But often it includes a fair amount of twang and looks back to rockabilly, and Al Anderson's newone does just that. The former NRBQ member's solo CD is not country, but it may please country fans who like to boogie. "I was inclined to show people I can rock better than ever," Anderson says of this album. And rock itdoes.

Delbert McClinton and Elvis Costello help out, but this is prime Anderson, familiar to fans of NRBQ for their mix of, as he puts it, "ChuckBerry, Hank Williams and Willie Dixon. "

There are a couple of (fairly bland) slow ballads and one nifty New Orleans groove, "After The Mardi Gras," but most numbers ("That Thang," "Bang Bang Bang," "Get Gone") chug along with a revved-up rockabilly sound, with a healthy dose of greasy, bar-band R&B thrown in. It's a winning combination.