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>> FRED MILLS, Associate Editor

Tim Lee Concrete Dog (Fundamental): While interviewing Tim Lee for liner notes for his 2004 album No Discretion, one thing he said stuck in my mind: “I learned to stop worrying ... and love the power pop.” What he meant was something a number of artists, from Alex Chilton to Tommy Keene to Mitch Easter, have expressed over the years: They’re uncomfortable at being cast as twee purveyors of jangly guitars, wimpy guy/gal lyrics and skinny ties. But Lee will always be associated with one of the great ’80s power-pop outfits, Mississippi’s Windbreakers (grab a copy of the anthology Time Machine). Following a long hiatus from touring and recording, Lee resurfaced in 2001 and quickly made up for lost time, issuing the mostly acoustic Under The House and, in 2004, the electric No Discretion. The new Concrete Dog picks up where No Discretion left off. Translation: an even-handed (but thoroughly rousing) mix of plangent pulchritude and all-guns-blazing roots rock. Among its gems: the churning, neo-surf rocker “Real Bad Habit”; “Get Up, Get Up” so swaggeringly infectious it brings to mind the Georgia Satellites covering “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love And Understanding”; the bluesy, nocturnal “Greyhound From Jackson” (recorded in Tucson with Calexico/Giant Sand producer Craig Schumacher); and the anthemic title track, awash in jangle and tremolo and straight outta Windbreakersville. Concrete Dog will keep Lee’s old fans happy while making even the most jaded Americana buff sit up, stop worrying and love the power pop.