(Haunted Lake)

www.myspace.com/brucejoynerandthereconstruction

Back in the hazy, crazy days of college-rockdom (i.e., before underground music went overground as "alternative rock") Georgia-based Bruce Joyner fronted the mighty Unknowns, a SoCal outfit merging punk, garage and surf to great effect. He later founded The Plantations, eventually making the cross-country trek to reclaim his Southern roots, and while he's hardly been the most prolific of artists, each time he resurfaces with a new recording, it's always a banner day for longtime fans.

His current ensemble is dubbed The Reconstruction, featuring Joyner's longtime guitar-slinging foil Tom "Possum" Byars (Out Of The Fire) helping to lead the charge. Elements, featuring production and engineering work from both Don Fleming (who played in a band with Joyner in the late ‘70s before going on to fame with Gumball and as an in-demand NYC producer) and Mitch Easter, is indeed a worthy addition to the Joyner canon, a sleek though stripped-down cauldron of driving garage and hard-edged pop. Throughout, Joyner sings with a deeply-felt passion, one moment unleashing a sneer or a snarl, the next crooning romantically like a punk Sinatra. Among the highlights: thumping, swaggering opening track "Invisible Smile," which is aggro punk with a melodic edge; "Swamp Fox Foxy," anthemic garageadelica, featuring lead guitar by Fleming; "Evil Smile," Southern goth-pop that'd make Lux Interior smile; and "Hot Georgia Nights," which with its underlying surf-y vibe wouldn't be out of place on an Unknowns record.

It's been some time since we had a new record from Joyner. Here's hoping we won't have to wait so long for the next one.

DOWNLOAD: "Hot Georgia Nights," "Hard Machine," "Invisible Smile" FRED MILLS