*** Brave Combo

MOOD SWING MUSIC

(Rounder)

This collection of outtakes and hard-to-find tracks from these modern polka rebels might be the best introduction available -- a lively and varied overview of a band who have always enjoyed ignoring the status quo. Delightful live, they've had some trouble transferring the magic to disc. Their unpretentious musicality and insatiable curiosity have always been their strong suit, so it only makes sense that emphasizing the extreme variety of styles they encompass would be the way to go. Here are 20 songs in four languages (sometimes two at a time, including a "Volare" sung by Japanese guest vocalist Kikusuimaru) in styles ranging from polka to salsa to pop/rock to waltz to ondo.

Two more guest vocals -- from Tiny Tim (on the Beatles' "Girl") and Lauren Agnelli of the Washington Squares (on another of the album's highlights, the moody "Burn Slow") -- help offset one of the band's few weaknesses, their nondescript singing. The varied menu results in their best album since 1988's Humansville.

-- Peter Travis