Shakin’ and stirring, the Morning After’s On the Rocks is straightforward, ambitious rock. With only brief nods to alt-rock, the members of this Cleveland quintet spend their debut album showing how well they can play their instruments. Behemoth guitarist Justin Smith squeezes out blues riffs and classic-rock solos — “Homewrecker” could be a Blue Öyster Cult deep cut. Frontman Ryan Rini is the Sinatra of the party, grousing about homewreckers and politicians before he gets back to his rocks glass. <

This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2006.