Here we have what is described in their PR sheets as an up-and-coming Australian blues band. Kings & Associates have played all of the Down Under festivals and the top clubs in their native country, and for this album, their second, they traveled to the States, recording in Los Angeles with Grammy winner Jim Scott as producer and engineer.

What's the result? Solid blues-rock, with searing guitars -- three of them -- and Hammond organ and piano courtesy of guest artists. Songs are standard: a bluesy riff is established, a melody emerges and lead singer Angela Portolesi wails. Solos ensue and ensemble playing, which sometimes feels and sounds like the individual members of the band are going in different musical directions, kick in, leading to a finish.

Like much of what bills itself as blues these days, the album is primarily rock with a lot of seventh chords and blue notes. It is competent, sometimes exciting but, man, is it familiar. As Dorothy Parker said about some city or another: There's no there there. You feel like you've heard it all before and as you make your way through Tales of a Rich Girl, you feel yourself longing for something unique, something a little bit different.

You want these guys to take you someplace you haven't been before, instead of going down the same old paths.