Buster Poindexter: Buster's Spanish Rocket Ship

If you are at all familiar with Buster Poindexter, even if only for his 1987 hit "Hot Hot Hot," then deep in your heart of hearts you know exactly what an album called Buster's Spanish Rocket Ship is going to sound like. If you aren't familiar with him, here's a primer: Buster Poindexter (known in a past life as New York Dolls singer David Johansen) is a large-headed, gravel-voiced lounge lizard who doesn't necessarily sell many albums. He doesn't need to, because at this point he's a minor celebrity just for being himself. Buster's Spanish Rocket Ship features Poindexter doing what he does best, which is break out into countless party songs. Part Harry Nilsson, part Los Del Rios, Poindexter energetically sings over a catalog of Latin beats and blaring horns, sometimes adopting an accent that's more endearing than annoying. And what songs they are! He successfully spins suggestive and humorous tales of wanton women, dancing the night away, and, in "Nueva Broadway (They Don't Smoke)," the Disneyfication of Times Square. It's a fun, energetic album that's hard not to like.