If their first through third albums charted a rapidly progressing arc in the way of confidence and capability, from loose but groovy bar band to rock-solid roots rockers, Green Pop is the record on which everything finally coalesced for the Cincinnati quartet. In fact, the album represents a quantum leap in quality and consequence, which is certainly saying something in light of the band's frequently stellar previous history. Where even in the finest moments on their initial few albums Big in Iowa could come off as one trick, Green Pop is anything but. It is, instead, one of the strongest straight-ahead, pure rock & roll albums of the year. From where the band's newfound proficiency and power arose is likely a confluence of some of the usual factors (upgraded songwriting prowess, increased road worldliness, and seasoning), but it without a doubt also has much to do with Big in Iowa's choice of collaborator. Former Del Lords guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel — one of the architects of the '80s roots rock revival — produces the album, and his impact is considerable. He simultaneously polishes the band's roughest edges and brings out their ragged, robust heart, while turning in a crisp, beefy production that carves the perfect groove. Green Pop has its share of thick rock and rustic country-rock ("Move Along"), but more importantly there are strains of cool rhythm & blues ("Bull in a China Shop") that, for perhaps the first time, fully live up to the throttled soul that emerges from