Rodeo Boys

It’s tough in ’23 to tap into grunge nostalgia without adopting an aura of pastiche. There have been countless bands that have painted their particular sound with the Big Muff blasé of Gen X, but the best of the bunch have found the spark that let the left-of-the-dial spill into the valley between punk and pop without ever becoming pop punk. Like Cable Ties, Flat Worms, early Dude York, or Mod Con, Lansing’s Rodeo Boys find that balance by embracing the era’s burning angst and mixing it with a latter day embrace of blurred-edge genres. Home Movies crackles to life on opener “Feel The Same,” a 4 1/2 minute tempest in a discarded styrofoam 16 oz. The opening half of the album is balanced by the ice water cool down of “Hail Mary,” and the fingertap torrents of “Tidal Wave,” but the band excels when they’re at their most ecstatic.

“Tidal Wave,” lets in on the band’s core charm, melding their embrace of ‘90s aesthetics with of a bit of classic rock and metal showboating, allowing knotty solos to scar their fuzzbombed grunge by throwing Dino Jr and Helmet hues in with the Van Halen headers on the van mixtape. Add to the mix the blistered vocals of Tiff Hannay, who finds the guttural punch and ripped soul of Kim Shattuck and sutures it to a record that was already drawing blood, and the album begins to find that kind of classic feel. The album stands out from lesser bands trying a bit of fuzz on for the moment, imbued instead with an earnestness that’s endearing. Save for the inclusion of a cover of “One Way Or Another,” which likely kills in the live setting, but may have been worth holding back on the record, Home Movies laces the loops between Dino Jr., Hole, L7, and the Breeders, in a believable way, leaving a lot to love for those who want a good reason to shout along and maybe sneak a bit of air guitar into your indie rotation.