Yes, Grushecky would like to be Springsteen -- with goatee and (receding) shoulder-length black hair, the guy's a somewhat puffier image of Bruce. Musical similarities exist as well. As with the E-Street Band, clean, fuzz-free driving guitars give Grushecky's music a straight-ahead rock feel. Occasional acoustic guitar and underplayed keyboards, however (and the lack of a saxophone), give the Houserockers a leaner feel than the E's. Unfortunately, it's only on the two tracks he wrote with Springsteen, "Dark and Bloody Ground" and "Homestead," that Grushecky over-articulates the Ghost of Tom Joad-like lyrics in a nasal voice that has him sounding as if he were trying to be Bruce. The lyrics cover similar ground: love, man's unfulfilled desires, and societal ills. Still, there's something a bit dirtier to Grushecky. After all, Springsteen's never had a song devoted entirely to chain-smoking.

-- Mark Bazer