Promised Land Sound (Bonus Track Version)

The alt-country aesthetic can become so codified these days that those who stray from the template stand out like a tattoo parlor in a convent. That's how it is on this Nashville-based band's debut album, which blends old-school country-rock with the kind of Tex-Mex garage vibe that ran through everything from The Sir Douglas Quintet to Joe Ely's early solo albums (hint: think winningly trashy organs). Add a dash of invitingly homey alt-rock that variously channels vintage Velvet Underground ("Empty Vase") and early R.E.M., and you've got a sound that's informed by multiple eras but tied to no single one. At times, as on "Make It Through the Fall," Promised Land Sound even sticks a toe into psychedelia, veering close to "cosmic cowboy" territory. But for the most part, this is an uncommonly visceral album; there are precious few alt-country offerings in which one of the first things you notice is the rhythm section's propulsive power. On its first album, PLS has already achieved an immediately arresting band identity, putting it a fair ways of ahead of the pack right from the get-go.