Editor’s note: Every month Times Free Press entertainment reporter Casey Phillips and associate features editor Barry Courter will review a CD.

* CD: “A Touch of Someone Else’s Class,” by The Black Diamond Heavies

* Casey Phillips: On MySpace, The Black Diamond Heavies describe their band as sounding like “thunder and lightning,” and after listening to this follow-up to their 2007 release, it would be easy to mistake John Wesley Myers (organ/vocals) and Van Campbell (drums) for Thor’s children.

Over the course of 11 tracks, the two combine the explosive energy of punk rock with the howling, spirited vocals of soul, a combination like sunrays framing a roiling black thunderhead. It definitely works, even if the concept sounds like it shouldn’t.

In a bit of an odd turnaround, the drums were often center stage, a role I’m not accustomed to hearing them in. Usually this works, but on some tracks, like “Everythang Is Everythang,” they become floodlike in their intensity. A notable exception to this is a cover of Nina Simone’s “Oh Sinnerman” (one of three covers), in which Myers takes center stage to pound and growl with a voice like an angry Louis Armstrong.

I really enjoyed this album. Campbell's kit work provided explosive intensity that matched Myers' voice, which sounded, at time, like Kermit the Frog barking out lines like Hitler at a political rally, but it doesn’t devolve into unintelligibility like some punksters. Myers, the son of a Baptist minister, pairs these raspy vocals with a throbbing key accompaniment that fits just about perfectly. Also, The Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach takes a break from producing duties to add a cool, early ’50s rock vibe — a la Jerry Lee Lewis — to “Happy Hour.”

My only quibble was with mixing that didn’t seem to take the band’s energy into account, which results in some tracks sounding like amplified static. Still, this is a great example of how two seemingly inconsolable genres can hold hands and play nice together.

* Barry Courter: The mix is definitely a big part of this CD, and while I also found myself at times wishing it was a little cleaner, it works here and is part of the color for me. It sounds like the energy from the music has blown the speakers, which is likely the intent.

This is one of the freshest records I’ve heard in a long time, which might seem a strange thing to say since it is also one of the most derivative I’ve heard in awhile. And that is a good thing.

Part of the fun is picking out and identifying the many influences you hear. The most obvious is Myers' voice, which is part Tom Waits and part Iggy Pop with a little Joe Cocker in there, too.

You also hear some Rolling Stones’ blues-rock phrasing, and every now and then Myers’ keyboards offer a hint of Ray Manzarek’s whirling-winding-constantly-building, trippy sound with the Doors.

Nothing is copied here, mind you, but whether intentionally or not, Myers and Campbell have managed to take some of the very best parts of tent-revival passion, demonic rock ’n’ roll, ’60s psychedelia and punk sensibility and made something all their own.

The beauty is how well it all works together.