A lot has gone into Hubcap’s new album, Silencer, its first in more than five years. If the album’s title conjures associations of the Beatles’ Revolver, and Tim Obine’s cover art harkens back to ‘90s-era Matador Records, both influences are apparent on Silencer. The album’s thirteen tracks hit hard and fast, 49 minutes of rock that never goes wrong. No one would accuse Hubcap of complacency. Between the Rails, the band’s ambitious sophomore effort, was recorded in a two-level barn with a sound system rigged up by Hubcap themselves. Released to a bevy of local critical adoration, Between the Rails was voted “Best Record of the Year” by the Ithaca Times as well as by Jim Catalano in the Ithaca Journal. Hubcap has always been an ambitious group, and with each year the group has grown more self-assured. The band’s material on its new record recalls the pop of the British Invasion and the power-pop of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Silencer’s palette ranges from drone to Paisely to full-throttle rock, yet is a more focused record than the band’s two previous offerings, it gets going and doesn’t let up. From the opening kick drum of “Golden Boy” to the last cadence of the Peter Glanville-penned “Try Me On,” Hubcap charges through pop songs at a break-neck speed. The two fastest tracks, the snarling “First Wolves” and the barely three-minute “Beehive” sound as if the band is collectively releasing pent-up energy. There are other influences on Silencer: “Sugarcane” is a sweet tart of a pop song, ‘60s melodies by way of Sloan; “By The Hand,” also written by Glanville, sounds like Tom Petty song with its elongated and jangling chorus, and is kindred spirits with Hubcap’s earlier “Motionsick.” Even the one quiet song on Silencer, the lilting “Joey Bishop Gets His Due,” which arrives mid-record as a sort of a breather, sounds more like an Elliott Smith B-Side and is darker than any of the band’s previous ballads. A nail in the coffin for the Rat Pack, not a starry-eyed tribute. "Silencer" points Hubcap as a band unafraid of its influences, but not enslaved to them, either.