A cover photograph of a dog wearing a hat with its big, ugly tongue thrust into the foreground offers an introduction of sorts to Dollar Store's Money Music. It's as if the band is saying "the music that the listener is getting ready to experience is in your face, down to earth, and real, though not necessarily 'pretty.'" The opener makes good on this promise. "Money Music" is a rocking track that rolls out of the speakers, shrinking the distance between the band and the listener. The band -- bassist/vocalist Alan Doughty, guitarist Tex Schmidt, guitarist/organist Dean Schlabowske, and drummer/vocalist Joe Camarillo -- accomplishes this immediacy with a tight, muscular approach that is more rock than alternative country. From here, Dollar Store seldom let up, delivering song after song (e.g., "Wasting Away" and "Twisting in the Wind") that rock hard, seldom run over three and a half minutes, and feature crack ensemble work only occasionally interrupted by an aggressive guitar solo. For those wishing for a slight break in the breakneck pacing, the sixth cut, "One Red Cent, One Thin Dime," provides a nice stopgap as well as a good example of a well-done rock ballad. Dollar Store probably qualify as alternative country, though the band's ability to push beyond the genre's usual cliches tempts one to search for another category (though it's hard to imagine a rock band taking a crack at "In the Gravel Yard"). Wherever Money Music winds up in the CD rack, however, it will please old fans, lovers of classic rock, and folks who fancy alternative country. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Rovi