Last year Red Jacket Mine covered Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" as the flip side of their "Amy" single; a fun but surprising choice considering that the band has so much strong material of their own.

Someone Else's Cake kicks off with the aforementioned "Amy," a tune that with a bouncy Cars-like arrangement and quavering organ reminiscent of the Lyres mashes up the best of two great Boston bands. But much of the album nods to British acts; the very catchy "Nickel & Dime" and "Listen Up (If the World is Going to Hell)" remind of Squeeze, the title cut is informed by Elvis Costello and Graham Parker and "Engineer" has a bit of a T-Rex vibe to it.

In short, songwriter and lead singer Lincoln Barr learned his craft at least partially by listening to some extremely talented pop songsmiths and here demonstrates that hey, he can do that too.

Speaking of pop geniuses, Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star, R.E.M.) knows a good thing when he hears it and he makes four songs here even better by adding backing vocals.

Heavy Glow
"Mine All Mine" b/w "Headhunter"
Purge
7" 45-RPM single, colored vinyl

Imagine if Foo Fighters came up in the '60s, right about the time that garage bands were starting to experiment with psychedelia, and you have a rough idea what these two songs from Heavy Glow sound like.

The band's singer Jared Mullins has a voice not unlike that of the smoother side of Dave Grohl and he's a good writer too; A-side "Mine All Mine" rocks like the Foos, including with a hooky chorus and ripping guitar (also provided by Mullins) that blurs the line between stoner rock and psych.

A chunky bass riff, Santana-esque lead guitar and understated vocals move the somewhat ominous-sounding "Headhunter" into the early '70s and when the song ends cold the first inclination is not to put on the next record, but to start this one spinning again.