POP MUSIC REVIEW : YOAKAM’S HAPPY, UPPITY COUNTRY BOP

Despite the excitement and hype surrounding him, Dwight Yoakam is not the first “new traditionalist” to surface in country music. Other hitmakers before him, Ricky Skaggs prominent among them, have eschewed pop gloss and helped make country radio safe for country again.

So what is it about Yoakam’s back-to-basics music that stands out as refreshingly anachronistic in the current country pantheon?

Simple: It swings .

As crowded as the Palace was Friday for the first of two weekend Yoakam shows, folks found room to dance--not just the usual two-steps from the studs in Stetsons and their gals, but fervent rock ‘n’ roll dancing from Hollywood’s more gentrified local yokels (and to music that stylistically doesn’t make very many concessions to modern rock).

The joyful bop that infects selections like Yoakam’s sublime version of “Ring of Fire”--the frequently revised Johnny Cash hit--shows that this rising star owes more debts than just his obvious one to the lonesome yelp of Hank Williams Sr. He also owes much to the happy, uppity country-swing of Bob Wills and his like, a debt that all too few can claim these days.

And, though Yoakam successfully interprets songs as famous as “Little Sister” (his new single, and most rock-ish effort) and tunes written or made famous by country artists as revered as George Jones, many of his own compositions also have the sound of potential country standards. Among them: “It Won’t Hurt,” “South of Cincinnati” and “Guitars, Cadillacs.”

This isn’t to say that the appeal of Yoakam--who honed his style in local rock clubs before going on to have a No. 1 country album--is completely unproblematic or, even universally applauded among country critics and fans.

The main criticisms--that he relies too much on reviving honky-tonk heroes like Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, and that he brings nothing new to the idiom--seem negligible ones. Not everybody can be as innovative a force as another L.A. based country/rock synthesist, the late Gram Parsons; nor do they need to be--at least when their derivation results in songwriting as strong as Yoakam’s.

However, Yoakam’s personality is another matter: He just doesn’t seem to have much of one. Merle Haggard has enough of a legend preceding him to get away with this poker-faced stuff; it’s less appealing a trait in newcomer Yoakam.

As much of a delight as the audio portion of the evening was, nobody looked to be having a pinch of fun onstage--least of all Yoakam. Part of the blame for the lack of action and interaction may lie with the fact that Yoakam just recently replaced two of his longtime band members, but, if memory serves, he also came off as something of a cold fish back in the days when he was a regular at the Palomino.

Much more warmth was emanating from Rosie Flores and her band, the opening attraction Friday. Flores may be best known to followers of the local rock scene as a member of the Screamin’ Sirens, who send up the genre in a friendly way, but the more straightforward brand of country Flores plays on her own is surprisingly genuine and surprisingly commercial. Look for her to be hot on Yoakam’s chart trail before long.