The idea driving 's 2018 compilation is that it provides a soundtrack for a fantasy summer, arriving sometime between the birth of rock & roll and the arrival of . Fantasy is the key here: the collection doesn't follow a strict chronology, nor is it rigid in its genre, which may come as a surprise to anybody who thought the American Graffiti homage of the album art indicated a strict allegiance to nostalgic sock hop. To be sure, there are some golden oldies here -- 's "Sea Cruise," 's "Splish Splash" and "Beyond the Sea," ' "La Bamba," ' "Short Shorts," and 's "Volare" -- but also tears it up with "The Sun Is Shining" and is the man behind the swinging title track. Still, the delight of -- and, make no mistake, it is delightful -- is how it unearths a bunch of hard-driving soda-fountain pop and mellow rock & roll, mining a peculiar vein of '50s rock & roll: mainstream stuff designed to be a hit yet following just on the fringes of a chart. And that's why is such a blast: it has just enough familiar tunes to anchor it in a shared popular consciousness, but its heart belongs to oddities that you've always wanted to hear but never knew that you did. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine