Those crazy swingsters, The W's, have returned. The six-piece Oregon-based band serves up a new helping of musical goodies for us, bringing forth a project showcasing their signature sound with obvious growth while still having fun and tunes you could dance to.

The Ws' first album, Fourth From the Last, released last year, was just a taste of what the band could do. Raw, underproduced, yet showcasing some good tunes, Fourth... always seemed like it could have been better. Trouble With X proves that to be true.

While Trouble With X is a superior disc to their previous album, it does lack in one area: the message. While Fourth... showed obvious hints that it was a Christian album (With songs like "Moses" and "The Devil is Bad"), Trouble With X bares little proof. The only real hint of such is found in the song "Stupid," where the band brings up a good point about how Christians say the world will know us by our love, while we go and condemn others or blow up abortion clinics. The final line of the song "Lord, we could use a change of heart," sums up the song's point.

Although The W's offer less of a message on this project, it doesn't really hurt the album. The record has positive wholesome songs throughout, ranging from a cover of John Denver's "Country Road" to a song about a "Used Car Salesman." Styles on this album also vary as well. From swing to rock and roll with horns, Trouble With X is more diverse than their previous effort.

Not perfect, but definitely a good album, Trouble With X is just what W's fans wanted and is suggested for anyone looking for good, clean, fun music.

- Review date: 10/24/99, written by John DiBiase