ROCK • A • RAMA

Ah, progress. Back in the ’70s, we had slews of LPs with an EP’s worth of good stuff on ’em; now we have “Mini-LPs” worth a hot 45. Like this Waterboys thing. Mike Scott and chums create an atmospheric kind of folk-rock with horns— sort of between the Bluebells and Teardrop Explodes, if that helps—and when the material matches Scott’s sense of drama, it blows most of the competition away.