Extremely Cool

Immortalized forever in Rickie Lee Jones's 1979 hit "Chuck E.'s in Love," Chuck E. Weiss has had his own career playing the drums and singing in a craggly blues voice that recalls his more famous buddy Tom Waits, who provides production, vocal, and songwriting assistance. For years, however, he never made it beyond the confines of Los Angeles nightclubs. Here he's assembled an album of freewheeling bar tunes and jump blues that recall the music of his youth with fresh irreverence. "Devil with Blue Suede Shoes" is ramshackle back-alley Chicago blues. "It Rains on Me" offers Waits and Weiss singing like old drunken buddies after closing time. It's what you'd expect, yet couldn't conceive. --Rob O'Connor