Grade: B+

Rockabilly genius Brian Setzer is known for three-chord boogie and clean, chiming guitar tones, but his 13th solo studio album —cleverly titled “13” — will shock fans expecting pompadours and cocktail lounge vocals.

Setzer’s release pairs hard-rock songs with the twang guitar that he helped resurrect 25 years ago.

Whereas Setzer’s previous recordings were swing-influenced affairs, “13” is more of a “guitar hero” album. The warbling whammy-bar licks and grease lightning solos of “Drugs & Alcohol (Bullet Holes)” are as aggressive as anything Setzer did in The Stray Cats, and the mildly distorted guitars and rumbling bass drive home lyrics warning about the dangers of alcohol and chemical dependence.

Setzer’s rockabilly leanings drift inconsistently throughout the album and often give way to big choruses and intricate rock guitar soloing. Rockabilly purists may balk, but the heavier guitar parts and complex vocal sections are much more interesting than the busy, swing music that is a staple of the Brian Setzer Orchestra. When Setzer does pull out the hollow-body guitar, he sets fire to the smoldering blues workouts that adorn the first-half of the recording. “When Hepcat Gets the Blues” is a serious display of rockabilly guitar chops and spiraling jazz-blues licks, proving that Setzer is one of the great guitarists of the last century.

It’s great to hear an established artist taking a chance, and Setzer reinvents himself as a rocker who just happens to play the meanest rockabilly guitar on the planet.

Keith Beebe is a music critic for the Northern Star.