Emerging swamp pop recording artists don’t come along every day but when one does in this old man’s game, it’s worth taking note. Though Ken Marvel didn’t exactly hatch overnight—he ruled the black-and-whites in G.G. Shinn’s band for several years—he’s one of the reasons why the music formerly known as South Louisiana music continues to thrive. Given his triplet-pounding piano playing and conviction-filled crooning, along with the stomping beats and liquid gold arrangements provided by Warren Storm (drums), Shelton Sonnier (guitar), Oran Guidry (bass) and Rick Folse (sax), it’s evident how Marvel’s affection for swamp pop runs deep. Each of the seven originals fit the duck-tails-and-poodle-skirts idiom perfectly, yet lyrically it’s hardly the typical recycled fodder. “Crossin’ The Line” reveals how hard the swamp pop bug bit; “It Hit Me” and “Bring It Back” are candid accounts of situational domestic hardships. Best of all, there are no feeble crossover attempts into any milquetoast Cajun or country music just to be contemporary; here the swamp pop colors never fade. Rollicking renditions of “I’m Walking’” and “I Got Loaded” receive solid treatment as well and overall, this is one swamp pop record that has it dialed in.