Drake Bell offers his takes on classic rockabilly tracks for 'Ready Steady Go!'

Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of.

Week of 05/02/2014
WHO: Drake Bell
WHAT: Ready Steady Go!
SPOT: 182

"I ain't a '60's dream," sings Drake Bell on "Back Of My Hand," a single by British rockers The Jags. No, Bell's dream is a tad more up-to-date for Ready Steady Go!, his new album. His retrospective dream focuses more on the '80s rockabilly revival, a movement that ironically refreshed the rock music of the '50s. No matter what decade you want to lump Bell's music with, he's not putting out the kind of pop we've begun to associate with other Disney and Nickelodeon alums.

Bell is clearly vested in the rockabilly movement as well, as evidenced by his recruiting of guitarist Brian Setzer as producer on Ready Steady. Setzer also ends up being the only performer represented twice on an album chock-full of covers, as his Stray Cats classics "I Won't Stand in Your Way" and "Runaway Boys" also appear. Billy Joel, Queen and The Kinks stand among the other acts borrowed from.

Yet for the relative innocence of Bell compared to the more exotic offerings of Miley Cyrus, the former Drake & Josh star makes sure to separate him from the kid-rock of the Jonas Brothers. The selection of "Bitchcraft" as the first single (one of the few originals here) shows that Bell wants to "act real wild" and not be "treated like a child" as "Runaway Boys" indicates.

Ready Steady Go! is a relief in terms of a TV star opting for a new genre, but his spins on already popular songs don't offer new angles to merit paying for. Placing a rockabilly spin on non-rockabilly songs would be a more enticing concept, but there's just not enough new information here to justify buying the album. If you download any tracks however, go for "Bull," a clever play on a classic figure of speech that offers subtle innuendo for strong feelings of desire.