Okay, let’s gander at this a bit: the guy who used to sing for the San Francisco funk/metal band Mordred from the late ’80s until the mid-’90s is the vocalist here, and the guitarist who’s been playing with LA punk band The Avengers since their formation in the ’70s (before some of you reading this were even sperm) handles the guitar. Pretty odd mixing and matching, you’d say? And what do The Hi-Noble sound like, you’re wondering? They sound like a three-finger shot of “awesome.” For serious. Sixties-styled, organ-fueled, fuzzed-out garage soul that couldn’t get anymore R&B stuffed into it even with a shoehorn.

Damn, this is some great shit: “Ain’t No Sin” grooves, “Big Black Car” grooves…”Stings A Bit,” “Don’t Go”….hell. There’s so much dirty basement swagger on this disc it’ll make you wanna cut off your arm where you got that Make-Up tattoo, because those DC-ites were a smarmy college joke compared to these cats. Legit.

(Zaentz Records, 3020 El Cerrito Plaza #377, El Cerrito, CA 94530)