Imagine a sweet, soft trip back into your youth, with no adolescent pains�or existential�doubts, just the music and the fun, and you will have a clear idea what bassist J.A. Granelli and his Mr. Lucky cohorts are delivering in their second effort, Gigantic, released on Granelli's boutique label, Love Slave.

This is a kind of retro release - there is a very charming reworking of the Bee Gees' 'If I Can't Have You' (once a hit for singer Yvonne Elliman). Organ player Jamie Saft pays his dues to surf music, slide guitarist David Tronzo proves he is proficient in reggae, Americana and fusion, and drummer Diego Voglino (who replaced�Kenny Wollesen)�demonstrates the importance of getting funky. But Gigantic is also a very up-to-date release, a kind of jam band without the boring noodling solos of a lot of the band that you might encounter in the Bonnarroo festival. Put simply, Mr. Lucky is very compact, with lots of the humor. Tronzo has a rich vocabulary on the slide guitar and Saft's thick licks on the Hammond B3 and the mellotron�bring to mind�such '60s characters as Al Kooper. Granelli tied all these influences together and led his tight band into a very enjoyable hour of sun. Don't forget to wait to the hidden track, a straight version of guitarist Johnny Smith's 'Walk Don't Run'.

Granelli, son of veteran drummer Jerry Granelli,�composed all the tracks here except the Bee Gees song, a Rogers and Hammerstein standard ("Pipe Dreams") and a straight version of guitarist Johnny Smith's "Walk Don't Run" hidden at the end of the disc. On his recent solo release he showed his pomo affinity, and with E-Z Pour Spout he interpreted the A-Team TV series theme, �AC/DC's "Back In Black," Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box," Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Of You" and Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By." Nothing should surprise, especially here, with a band named a Henry Mancini song.