J.D. McPherson has the pulse of rock and roll, old school. But he’s not just working the oldies circuit. Where other people try to lift sounds from the past in derivative ways, McPherson breathes new life into classic, recognizable rock motifs. His new album Nite Owls, his first of new (non-holiday) material since 2017, is one part primordial rock and roll dance record, one part spooky scene setter. Tracks like “Sunshine Getaway” and “Baby Blues” throw out a groove that won’t let you sit still. By the time “Rock and Roll Girls” ends you’ll be covered in sweat and ready to hit the bar but “I Can’t Get Anywhere With You” will keep you swaying as you wait in line. Other songs stoke the excitement in a more meditative fashion. Take “Just Like Summer,” a track that bristles with rogue rockabilly guitar. “Don’t Travel Through the Night Alone” is made for strolling in the late night streetlight along wet pavement. “Shining Like Gold” is the midtempo should-be radio hit, matching rumble guitar with a disarmingly seductive vocal. As an album Nite Owls refuses to settle down, switching things up on tempo amidst a flurry of striking guitar tones. Just check out McPherson’s spot-on revival of Al Caiola’s distinctive Magnificent Seven guitar attack that appears on the record’s lone instrumental “The Phantom Lover of New Rochelle.” And then there’s the magnificent sign-off “That’s What a Love Song Does to You,” a lush, lilting effort that falls somewhere between the Ink Spots and the Beach Boys. People, I have seen the future of rock and roll’s past and it is in safe hands with J.D. McPherson.

Find out what J.D. McPherson can do to you at his website.