Right in the kisser Rocktopus come out swinging with Something Fierce BY SAM PFEIFLE

The Rocktopus van is looking fine. The boys have buffed her right up, used a little Turtle Wax, and spit-shined the chrome bumpers. Under the hood, the engine is running hot but clean, with alternating growls and purrs. All the equipment, including that Flying V and the duct-taped Rhodes, is packed up tight in the back. This band, with a new album in Something Fierce to follow starting April 1, is ready to go.

Of course, Spencer Albee is at the wheel, but there’s a sense with this record that guitarist Zach Jones, drummer Brian Higgins, and bassist Pat Hodgkins (listed in the liner notes as Haché) are much more than just along for the ride. Hodgkins co-wrote four of the tunes. The liner notes are peppered with band shots, the kind that cement the idea that a band has been around for a while. The songs are starting to sound less identifiably Wings and McCartney, and more contemporary (well, with contemporary nods to the ’70s, anyway).

It almost makes me regret that mug of Albee hamming it up on the cover of the paper (if it wasn’t such a fine shot).

On Fierce, the band seem content, happy even. There’s a sense that Evil Spencer has been locked up in the attic and is being fed nightly through the trapdoor in the ceiling (although " Killer " makes you think that maybe Evil Spencer is really the one roaming around free). Really, what could be a better anthem for the playfully inclined than the disc’s lead track, " Vacation " ? It’s a great marriage of the pop punk with which Good Charlotte is finding so much success and the Beatles roots that Rocktopus should never shake — note the George Harrison, " Octopus’s Garden, " guitar solo that Jones busts out.

" No work, no school, give me vacation, " Albee croons, " you see I’m running out of patience. " It seems he’s tired of this whole rock-band thing feeling so much like work. " Why did mom and dad give me so many rules? " That’s a good question: Who said there was a blueprint for rock success?

If one exists, Rocktopus are following the one dated 1976. " Saturday Night " is a very fun disco vibe, pairing some digital loops and beeps with a tight rhythm section to help people remember roller skates, tight tank tops, and badly feathered hair. And it’s not a bad love song, other than the fact that few gals will be placated by the explanation that " I got laid, but it was nothing/ ’Cause I don’t want anybody but you. "

The closing track, " Down & Out, " could have been culled right from Boston’s 1976 self-title debut, in fact, or maybe Bad Company’s Straight Shooter. The (ironically?) crooned " I-ee-I-ee-I-ee " might be slightly over the top, but as a love ballad, the song balances sappy with suave pretty well.

More along the lines of a Steely Dan, bluesy jazz number is " Little Miss Used, " Jones’s riff blending nicely into Albee’s honky-tonk piano and lyrics of a sassy broad " with a shirt that says, ‘Hey, look at me.’ " There are ’60s and ’90s echoes here, too, however: the McCartney bend in Albee’s voice at the end of the chorus, the heavily distorted and pyrotechnic guitar bridge.

But don’t get the idea that this album sounds antiquated or dusty. " Get Away, " " 25, " and " Killer " are all the sort of alt-rock currently in fashion with the Hives, White Stripes, et al. As aggressive, upbeat rockers they ought to wind up as concert faves — especially " Get Away " ’s " I came and I saw and I kicked your ass. "

Rocktopus can do pretty, too. " Forevermore " uses Albee’s clean piano to good effect — and stands as reminder that Albee shouldn’t forgo the instrument in favor of the much sexier guitar; Ben Folds has done fine with it, and Rocktopus might well find fans in that same melodic vein.

" Soak in the Sun " might be prettier still, with a chorus that shoots into psychedelia. There are very few bells and whistles here or anywhere on the album. Basically, what you hear is what you get: guitar, bass, drums, some keyboards. It’s straight-ahead. It’s rock. It’s good to dance to.

You’ve probably heard the single by now, " Something Fierce. " With Popsicko holdovers " Suit and Tie " and " 2 Feet " (both basically warnings about the shark-infested waters of the music industry), it stands as the band’s mission statement: Though " the odds will say you’ll lose, " it’s important that you " don’t get caught gazing at your shoes " because " Something Fierce is gathering/ Something wicked this way comes. "

Watch out Portland. Watch out world. Rocktopus are coming storming through, the van’s got a cool paint job, and you get the feeling that these guys aren’t really minding the stop signs.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com

Rocktopus play a CD-release show, with Even All Out, Tony McNaboe, and the Ponys, April 12, at the State Theatre. Call (207) 775-780-8265. The album is available in stores April 1.