Heh, we all want to be a rock star, and who'd deny Krantz his bid? He's laid down vocals before, notably on his Abstract Logix debut Krantz Carlock Lefebvre. But Howie 61 is a whole new thing for Krantz, with ten songs (that's right, songs, with beginnings, middle 8s and ends…well, kind of) crammed into less than 40 minutes. Krantz, like Dylan, uses his voice's limitations to advantage, rapping nasally through the title track (‘Howie 61’, Highway 61, geddit?) or all strangled off and neurotic like David Byrne on ‘The Bad Guys’. There's a lot of Steely Dan here, too, with Krantz' time on Donald Fagen's splendid ‘Morph’ underwriting both the acerbic lyrics and the taut chordings. Of course, those of us who love Krantz precisely because he's that precious thing, an improvising guitarist who fearlessly grooves without compromise, will holler “Shut up and play yer guitar!” However, Howie 61 remains one of the tightest, stiletto sharp little rockers of the year, not least for the sublime re-shaping of the Grandmaster Flash/Ice Cube classic ‘Check Yo Self’. Which, of course, is covered as an instrumental. Fab scarlet Mark II Jag on the cover too. Since when was Krantz a Morse fan?