OK, we know you’re ready to move on from “Happy,” which has been stuck in your ears for weeks now. Getting over “Happy” doesn’t mean you’re unhappy. But don’t let me catch those toes tapping next time it comes up on the radio (any second now!).
Five bands with Arkansas roots have new music, some with a happy vibe, for your ears. Happy?
Bad Years/Crooked Roots “Westbound”/“Lonely Road”Max Recordings A
So this is a split 7-inch record featuring Bad Years and Crooked Roots, two Little Rock outfits of up-and-coming young guns, and playing it two or three times in a row has become a daily ritual around here.
“Westbound,” the contribution from Bad Years, is a catchy slab of buzz saw punk in the Jawbreaker vein. Michael Pollock’s vocals are righteously bratty and the rest of the band - Joe Pollock, Jakob Hooks and John Wright - pound this mosh pit anthem with authority.
Crooked Roots’ “Lonely Road” starts with Walt Peterson’s bubbling bass line and builds steam until the chorus comes crashing through the door like a herd of wildebeests. It’s a classic quiet-loud-quiet arrangement with raggedly wonderful harmonies from Peterson and guitarist Alden Walters and a theme of wandering, existential alienation.
Both tracks are exceedingly listenable, which is exactly what you need from a good single, and are perfect introductions to Bad Years and Crooked Roots. The 7-inch vinyl version (aka 45), by the way, features a killer sleeve with black-and-white cover art by Little Rock artist Nate Powell.
Chris Michaels Hallowed Ground Max Recordings B+
On his second solo outing, Chris Michaels - with Boondog mates Isaac Alexander, Dylan Turner and Jason Weinheimer, and also Sara Deeter, Arnold Kim and Shawn Stroope - has crafted a wonderfully nuanced collection of soulful folk and Americana-tinged rock.
It’s an album full of quiet highlights. “Ain’t it funny when you find yourself standing on hallowed ground/even when you don’t believe,” Michaels asks on the amazing “Simple.” And the band reaches near transcendence on the chorus of “Locks and Keys.” Nuggets like these invite you to keep exploring this Hallowed Ground.
Hot tracks: “Come Right In,” “Still,” “Locks and Keys.”Drexel & The Spirit Strange Mystery Max Recordings B-
Need a little rootsy rock with a small dose of indie pop and songs about bank robbers and a kidnapping in your life? Of course you do, which is why the latest from New York-based North Little Rock native Drexel should be right up your alley. He sounds a bit like Tommy Keene, and mixes infectious arrangements with a storyteller’s eye, which come into play on “Back in the Seventies” and “Money to Burn,” two songs inspired by a 1978 kidnapping of Drexel’s father by a pair of hapless crooks.
Among the other notables here, the title cut kicks the record off nicely with a sweet swagger and “Spirit of Love” is a wistful remembrance, but we’d have to quibble just a bit and say the 13-song Strange Mystery would benefit by losing two or three tracks.
Hot tracks: “Money to Burn,” “Strange Mystery.”Tom and Hebron Zoyugo Self-released B+
Pocahontas natives Tom and Hebron Chester can be hard to pin down musically, which is part of their charm. Radio-friendly pop, dance, electronic, rock, it’s all here - sometimes in the same track - on the pair’s second album. This is a good thing, by the way, because the Chesters are smart enough to almost always rein intheir eclectic tendencies before running totally off the rails.
Take “Love Goes Up, Love Goes Down.” There’s an almost-Prince-like, scratchy guitar at the beginning that quickly gives way to a minimalist drum and vocal and then - boom! - a dubstep sort of thing comes up before that guitar line returns. It’d be frustrating if the song weren’t so catchy.
Deeper in the album there are Beatleseque moments, blue-eyed gospel funk, tearjerking folk and even ’80s synth pop.
Overall, it’s a pretty remarkable document, and grows even stronger on the back half.
Available on iTunes or at tomandhebron.com.
Hot tracks: “Here I Am,” “Man on Board,” “Falling Star.”
Style, Pages 29 on 04/29/2014