Fresno Famous

Rick Barton is a case study in what 30-plus years as a working musician will do to a man. Between songs with his latest project Continental, he came off as a wise sage, hip to the ways of living night-to-night in dingy rock and roll clubs. Also: Slightly jaded, horribly wounded (by those young punk-rock girls) and more-than-a bit pissed off at a world where people just don't dance to rock and roll anymore.

Only, they do. Or they did Saturday night, during an hour-long set of furious straight-up country-tinged rock.

It's refreshing to catch a band that's free of gimmicks, that's not trading on indie-rock hippness or the punk-rock ethos or whatever else there is to help sell the name. Continental does straight ahead rock-and-roll without appologies. Echos of the early Stones, John Fogerty ("Centerfield," at least) or maybe Nick Lowe. Also the early Mekons albums (and current-day Jon Langford, if you extrapolate from there). The band (Barton's son Stephen and two others barely old enough to be at the bar) was best when train-chugging through the more countrified tunes, but were spot-on through the entire set. 

And really, that's what years on the road does to a working musician.