POP MUSIC REVIEW : Youngest Isley Brother Goes Solo at the Roxy

Armed with a black Stratocaster, Ernie Isley stepped out on his own at the Roxy on Thursday after a nearly two-decade career as the youngest member of the Isley Brothers.

Fronting a loud, funky quartet, Isley pulled out all the stops as he tore off savage riffs right-handed, left-handed, behind his back and between his legs. Isley isn’t the kind of guitarslinger who just plays notes--he impales them.

His solos hemorrhaged at the seams with harmonic distortion, evoking the psychedelic abandon of high-voltage heroes like Jimi Hendrix and Parliament-Funkadelic’s Ed Hazel. He even got down on his knees and chewed out scallops of feedback with his teeth.

Guitar histrionics aside, Isley is a competent singer and clever songwriter. The same record buyers who swoon over confessional singer-songwriter guitar stars like Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray are likely to enjoy Isley’s adult-oriented new work. His Roxy set consisted mostly of cuts off his new solo album, “High Wire,” but he also treated fans to extended versions of such Isley Brothers oldies as “Fight the Power” and “Who’s That Lady?”

But on Thursday, it was his tortured solo rendition of “Amazing Grace” that drove the patrons frantic. Cranking up the volume, Isley choked each note with gut-wrenching emotion, before segueing into a volatile tribute to Hendrix’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”