One can easily forgive the Greenhornes for not releasing a full-length album of new material in eight years when you consider how busy their rhythm section has been as of late, with bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler both serving in Jack White’s Raconteurs (as well as backing Loretta Lynn on the White produced Van Lear Rose), and Lawrence doing double-duty with White in the Dead Weather. But based on the straightforward, catchy numbers in ****, the Greenhornes spirited fourth record, you can only hope that their next album doesn’t take them nearly as long to release. Frontman Craig Fox sounds feisty and inspired throughout these songs, obviously pleased to be back recording with his old bandmates, who have naturally only gotten stronger while working with the exacting White.

**** , which could either be a preemptive high rating of the album by the band, or a mask for a curse word that perhaps wouldn’t make the best title for a comeback record, is an eclectic, fitful mix, with songs steeped in both garage rock attitude as well as soulful, expressive melodies. As is the case with the unpredictable output of Keeler and Lawrence’s other projects, the Greenhornes bounce liberally from the blues-based rock of the British Invasion to a modern, guitar-laden take on the edgier, more experimental side of early Detroit R&B. And due to the immediacy of the numbers, as well as the talents of those involved, these songs coalesce quite well and the albums simply hums as a result. The early Who-like stomp of ‘Saying Goodbye’ and ‘Underestimator’ get the album off to a raucous start, as Keeler’s drums drive these relentless rhythms over Fox’s stormy guitars and Lawrence’s steady basslines.

The band loosen up a bit on the swinging ‘Better Off Without It,’ which is imbued with the spirit of Motown within its soaring Hammond organ and effortless, Box Top-echoing chorus. And while the influences are easy to spot, they are hard to pin down, as these tracks have a thoroughly modern exuberance that belies their dusty, vintage inspirations. No where is that contemporary vitality more apparent than on the blistering ‘Need Your Love,’ which chugs with the rowdy intensity of Cream given access to cutting-edge 21st century fuzzboxes.

And while there are elements of many different eras layered within these songs, they have a playful essence that make them quite potent and wholly irresistible. The boisterous ‘Left The World Behind’ has elements of Strawberry Alarm Clock threaded through its hallucinogenic melody, while the simmering ‘My Sparrow’ and ‘Hard To Find’ sound like they could be Raconteurs outtakes. So, no extra points for originality, perhaps, but that doesn’t keep these songs from being enjoyable or absorbing.

**** is meant to soundtrack your good times, not to be played in the background while you painstakingly solve the energy crisis (although we’d all appreciate some help with that issue, thanks). That inherent sense of merriment and affinity is what beats at the heart of these numbers, as the trio is clearly taking pleasure in making music with each other again, and fans of the Greenhornes should obviously delight in that fact as well. Let’s just hope that Jack White lets these boys out to play again soon, so we don’t have to wait as long for their next rambunctious release.