One of the hottest bands in Cajun music ever since the release of the group's 1999 debut album, Kevin Naquin & the Ossun Playboys stay the course on 2004's
Never Satisfied: Jamais Satisfait. Though the band's roots are in traditional Cajun music, with
Naquin's accordion and French-language vocals and Louis Dronet's fiddle dominating Wyatt Foreman's strict-tempo rhythm guitar, the rhythm section of bassist Chevy Foreman and drummer Dwayne Lavergne powers the songs with a walloping backbeat that moves the songs closer to the rock & roll-based swamp pop subgenre. Tunes like "J'Ai Envie de Faire l'Amour" (one of three fine collaborations with Cajun mainstay
Johnnie Allan) and a choogling cover of
Rockin' Sidney's zydeco classic "Une Femme Pas Bonne" feature an impressive melding of rock & roll dynamics and traditional Cajun rhythms that doesn't skimp on either, and the bilingual title track adds just a hint of Nashville country to the proceedings without sounding like a blatant crossover bid. ~ Stewart Mason