Hot Wacks

Though the Los Angeles-based Wackers had founded their career on an appealing Beatles-based prototype power pop, their second album finds them reaching farther afield, adding CSNY-style harmonies to their sonic palette in "Do You Know the Reason" and "Time Will Carry On." In addition, there are post-psychedelic outings on both the title track and the album's three-song finale, climaxing in the mantra-like "Time Will Carry On." But despite their frequent experimentation, the Wackers sound most confident on the "Dear Prudence"-influenced "We Can Be," also managing an assured tribute to the post-Fabs John Lennon in their version of IMAGINE's "Oh My Love." HOT WACKS is an appealing mish-mash of early-1970s rock styles performed by an increasingly self-possessed band that knows what it wants, even if it's not quite sure how to get it.