Various Artists: Rockin’ Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly [$69.98]

Four CDs worth of rockabilly both familiar and obscure, Rockin’ Bones doesn’t attempt to become a history lesson. It doesn’t try to answer the hotly contested question of who gave birth to rockabilly. Yet, Rockin’ Bones succeeds as a portrayal of rockabilly — born in the American South and typified by supercharged electric guitar, drums, and slap-back bass — as a moment frozen in time. The genre fell out of favor before it could be truly co-opted and corrupted beyond repair, but not before it could be filled with colorful characters and fly-by-night labels. From the cover’s homage to pulp novels, complete with leather jackets, switchblades, and a dangerous girl who practically licks her lips at the thought of blood, to the song selection, Rockin’ Bones revels in rockabilly’s popular image as dangerous stuff. [Amazon]