POP REVIEWS : A FULL DECK

The Wild Cards showed Saturday at the Lingerie that they’d be equally effective as an opening act for the Blasters or the Manhattan Transfer--and that’s a compliment to the group’s cross-genre reach, not a dig at its easy accessibility.

All the Cypress-based quartet needs is some signature material that moves away from the swing-jazz framework that dominated Saturday’s show. That repetition was the only drawback, and the Wild Cards easily overcame it with the kind of driving, dazzling display that should move them to the front ranks of the local music scene.

In their wide, wild ties, tab-collar shirts, suspenders, baggy pants and two-tone shoes, the four young Latinos have an eye-catching look, but they never seem to be pushing an image at you. Their sharp showmanship is tempered with a naturalness and unaffected sense of fun, and their jolting jitterbug-cum-break-dance antics inspired some explosive dance-floor action.

Jazz-influenced, ‘40s-style, finger-popping shuffles launched some stirring solo and group singing. All four contribute, but Adrian Remijio stood out, especially on some change-of pace ballads that evoked Nat (King) Cole and Johnny Mathis. The multi-part doo-wop items--culminating in a “The Girl Can’t Help It” that pulled you in as it faded to a whisper--combined charming spirit and breathtaking technique.

In fact, so did the whole show.