In Brief: : *** THE HAVALINAS, "The Havalinas," Elektra.: Albums are rated from five stars (a classic) to one star (poor).

The L.A. trio has a go at our troubled times, offering encouragement to the downtrodden with the sentimental spirit and the ramshackle, acousti-rock sound of a street-corner Stones. There's also some romance stuff, and a road-tempo dope-murder narrative delivered with a hipster twang. It's sometimes overbearing, but rhythmically propulsive (former Rockats and Cruzados at work) and undeniably good-hearted.