MANNIX
Come to California
(Mannixrock)

Looking for something to do recently on Delaware's Eastern Shore , I settled on a brew pub because the name of the band playing there was the same as that of my all-time favorite TV show, "Mannix." (The group's lead singer and songwriter, Joe Mannix, even shares the TV private eye's first name.)

To paraphrase the late Victor Kiam: I liked the quartet so much, I bought the CD.

"Come to California" is actually a two-disc, 16-song concept album telling the story of a New Yorker whose girlfriend leaves him to pursue stardom in Hollywood. Unable to get her back, he plots to go west and kill her, then contemplates suicide but comes to his senses and ultimately gets over her and get on with his life.

With its literate lyrics convincingly conveying the protagonist's roller coaster of emotions, Mannix's melodic pop-and-rock variously evokes Boston, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Eagles, Billy Joel and Mike Connors. (OK, just kidding about the latter, although it would be clever shtick to open their live show with the "Mannix" TV theme song.)

My favorite tracks include the acoustic "Feel the Way I Do," which recalls melodically the Beatles' "I'll Follow the Sun"; "Take My Blues Away," with its Chuck Berry-like guitar riffs; the haunting "Sunset and Vine"; the frenzied "Gasoline"; and the upbeat finale, "Leave the Past Behind."

The self-produced "Come to California" is clearly deserving of a wider audience than an independent label can give it. (Are you listening, majors?) -- Peter Parisi