By combining musical equipment from the past and present, it’s easy enough to create a record that sounds like it was made at the height of The British Invasion. But writing songs that are good enough to make those sonic choices sound like more than just hollow posturing is much more difficult. The High Strung knows how to put together tight, concise pop songs that have immediacy and staying power. The same talent that led The Washington Post to name “The Songbird,” from the band’s album These Are Good Times, one of the best songs of 2003 is all over this follow-up record, Moxy Bravo. In the two years between releases, The High Strung has gone through some big changes. In 2004 vocalist Mark Owen bowed out and the remaining members decided to continue as a trio; leaving full-time lead vocal duties to guitarist Josh Malerman. With Owen went a certain unhinged quality that originally helped to distinguish the group from the ever-growing pack of garage rock wannabes, but The High Strung still has the songwriting and chops to set the group apart from the majority of ’60s revivalists. For Moxy Bravo, the band once again chose to record with the master of skuzzy garage rock, Jim Diamond. While the results certainly could not be called polished, the record isn’t as gritty as These Are Good Times. The High Strung is obviously influenced by bands like The Zombies, The Kinks, and The Creation, but it is never confined by its retro style. Moxie Bravo is loaded with music and lyrics that are intelligent and inspired, and that’s why The High Strung is more than just warmed-over corpses of dead rock legends.

After watching the much-touted rock documentary, Dig, which chronicles the career tragedies and triumphs of the bands Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. I was struck by the thought “How did the filmmakers manage to be there at exactly the right moment to capture this stuff?” (If you haven’t seen this yet, do yourself a favor and give it a viewing. I didn’t give a rip about either band’s music before watching it and, frankly, still don’t. Having said that, the pure personal pathos and absurdist egoism displayed in the film is an absolute delight to watch and deserves repeated screenings). Alternately, immediately after viewing All Dolled Up, a newly released DVD of behind the scenes and live concert footage from proto-punk rockers The New York Dolls, I had to ask the question, “Why have we never seen this stuff before?” As captured by rock photographer Bob Gruen and his wife, Nadya Beck, All Dolled Up represents a truly important document for music aficionados, fans of revved up rock and Dolls newcomers alike. Simply stated: this is the best film on the New York Dolls to date.