Schatzi is a breath of fresh air. This Austin group brings a much-needed goofy sensibility to power pop that carries you back to a time when fresh, snappy tunes with quirky, clever lyrics were what you craved.

The band reveres Led Zeppelin, but to this reviewer the drums have more in common with Tommy Ramone's hard-driven poppy feel than with John Bonham's overdrive. The guitars do crunch and twirl around the notes. The band is slick and polished without sounding heavily commercial. Singer Monte Williams can sell the listener into believing that he equally misses his gal and the Alien Nation in "Gladys." "Death of the Alphabet" is chockful of delicious wordplay: "You thought I was on a roll / react to the chemicals / and you've got a wish that's made of solid gold/ I'm licking the floor for crumbs / a piece of what I've become / my fingers are completely numb." The music is so snappy and the singer so happy, it's all you can do to control your feet.

Fifty Reasons to Explode was nicely produced by Ed Ross (Get Up Kids, The Anniversary). The 13 well-crafted tunes, with not a duffer in the bunch, will take you to the good groove planet.