Zydeco on Bayou

Once billed as "the future of zydeco," Terrance Simien is the player who introduced unpredictability and limitless energy into the genre. Like all the leading players of this jumpy, good-time south Louisiana music, Terrance plays accordion. Unlike many zydeco leaders, however, Simien is an excellent singer and a frenetic performer. Here on his debut album, he blends flavorful originals like "Zydeco Zambada" and the title cut with a couple of unlikely covers: Peter Tosh's "Stop the Train" and A. P. Carter's country standard, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Overall, a high-octane breed of an already energetic music. --Robert Baird