Frank Jordan -- it's a band, not a guy -- are on their way. After ten years of playing together and one lineup fluctuation, this trio sounds like nothing so much as itself: a pitiless rhythm attack with textured psychedelic guitars and throbbing basslines that pull listeners in, hand over hand, 'til they're submerged. Then there's Mike Visser's voice, gorgeous enough to draw comparisons to Sonic Youth, but never preening, always focusing on kicking his audience's ass rather than wowing them with his considerable range.

The thing that always seems to divide merely-decent bands from excellent ones is variety, and Frank Jordan has that in spades. When a band has all the money in the world to spend on production, monotony stops being their concern and becomes their producer's problem. And hey, if he only uses a few tasteful PowerTools textures, it can even come out all right.

Frank Jordan's production is decent, but they certainly didn't have the budget necessary to let someone else do all their work. Accordingly, they play off of each other, jam and sometimes improvise; "To Never Have Without" completely changes track no less than thirteen times, without once sounding contrived. As if this sort of showmanship wasn't enough -- and it really is -- the band brought in extra musicians on many songs, just to add that little something that keeps you listening long after you've memorized all the chords. Wind instruments are hiding like the striped-shirted protagonist of those old Where's Waldo books, waiting for listeners who want a little more out of their guitar rock to find them.

Even after you've exhausted all the sonic riches, there's the lyrics themselves -- the sort of meat and potatoes philosophical/emotional phrase-turns you expect from stolid self taught musicians whose sole ambition seems to be rocking out. "Just promise me that if I'm going to hell / You'll find a way for me to believe / All I've heard before I go", Visser sings, sounding pissed off but humble. It's a neat trick.

So Frank Jordan may be on their way, but it's difficult to tell exactly where they're going. Their roots are in psychedelic jazz-fusion, but they've grown and changed more since their early days than some bands do in an entire career. In all likelihood and with any luck, this hard-working band will continue transforming throughout their career. There's probably going to be an experimental post-punk Frank Jordan record someday, and most certainly there will be more forays into jazz. Whether they ever get signed with a major, they'll always have an interested audience happy to watch them on their journey -- assuming, that is, they can keep knocking out such consistently awesome albums. Choosing which of their songs to put in the Boombox was pure agony, so it makes sense for you to grab the entire album.