The Rousers “In Without Knocking” 1986. Boat Records & Tapes. The debut LP from Madison, WI based power poppers with a rootsy, Americana flavor. Recorded at Smart Studios, Butch Big mixed and engineered. It is very 80’s sounding – while the is a new-to-me local(ish) band, their sound reminds me of a mix Rousers’ contemporaries including Charlie Sexton, Smithereens, The Plimsouls and Chris Isaak (not his slow stuff). There’s also a lot of  boogie woogie/honky tonk influence: “Don’t Chop My Haircut” and “Got Another Lovin’ Man” – a real 50’s classic rocker – are very rockabilly. (Sidenote: based on the back cover band member photos at least a couple of them were definitely into rockabilly, especially guitarist/vocalist Ernie (aka Dan Conner) who sports a wicked black slicked pompadour with tight sideburns.) My top track is the album opener “Rosalie.” “Livin’ in the Midwest” is a rollickin’ good time though I probably like it for the title and lyrics. The Rousers only released one other album, Full Moon Bad Weather, in 1991. It looks like Ernie and drummer Lee Laski (whose photo on the back cover resembles 80s era Bruce Springsteen) went on to form Waterdogs, a garage surf band who released a single in 1988 and an LP in 2000 on Madcity Records.