They're hangin' tough

New Kids on the Block

"The Block"

Interscope

****

On their first album since 1994, the thirtysomething members of New Kids on the Block make remarkably little attempt to conceal their ages. There's one song called "Grown Man," for example, and there's another in which the hook goes, "I'm a big boy / You're a big girl now."

"The Block" even ends with a bit of in-the-studio chatter between Donnie Wahlberg and one of his children -- not the most efficient way of distracting us from the fact that these backstreet boys are well on their way to becoming middle-aged men. (On the other hand, the album does include a track called "Sexify My Love," which is certainly a mistake nobody over the age of 16 should make.)

Perhaps the surest sign of the New Kids' maturity here is the surprising strength of most of the material. They've been around long enough to know what a hit sounds like, and they're wise enough to know that they don't have forever to rebuild a following. So "The Block" comes loaded with sure-thing collaborations with radio-pop rainmakers such as Timbaland, Akon, Ne-Yo and Polow da Don, each of whom treat the project with respect, not condescension.

The best cuts exude an understated confidence the old New Kids never had: In "Click Click Click" they layer sleek blue-eyed soul vocals over a hushed computer-music groove, while "Twisted," the Timbaland track, sets angelic harmonies against a menacing synth riff. "Grown Man," produced by new jack swing maestro Teddy Riley, even makes clever use of a sample of "Chain of Fools."

Considering Top 40's predilection for unlined young faces, "The Block's" unexpected quality is no guarantee of a commercial rebirth for NKOTB, who play the Staples Center on Oct. 8. Believe it or not, though, they've got the right stuff.

-- Mikael Wood

A country soul in a strange world

Rodney Crowell

"Sex and Gasoline"

Yep Roc

*** 1/2

Affairs of the heart have long been the domain of esteemed country singer and songwriter Rodney Crowell, and he hasn't abandoned that territory in his latest effort, in stores today. But the real fire ignites in the title track and several other songs in which Crowell tries to sort out a culture where "it don't make much sense that common sense don't make no sense no more," as his peer John Prine once put it.