On Repeat Road Agent Spin

Our favorite local bands are often the ones who dive into novel sounds and make them their own, we admit. But there's still a lot to be said for the Madison acts that get by on cranked-up guitar hooks and half-sung, half-yelled choruses. If that's your thing, we'd tell you to look out for The Arge's primal grunge smartassery, or The Motorz's stubbornly vintage power-pop. Well, let's add to that a local band we've heard from a bit less often, Road Agent Spin, who play tonight at the High Noon Saloon.

In a year that's kept us busy with Madison-grown instrumental rock and noise-pop hybrids, it's reassuring that songs like "Bonnie & Clyde," from the new album Road Agent Spin recently wrapped, Radio Anarchy, come across with such triumphant glee. We like our classic rock around here, yet it's rare that a band can shoot us back to that territory and actually make it feel worthwhile. Part of it is that Road Agent Spin's sound—though you wouldn't call its formula original—has a looseness to it, borrowing a lot but not too much from any one source. There's a little Guns 'N' Roses in its AC/DC, a little Foo Fighters in its Cheap Trick. "One Horse Town" and "Bad Seed" let the powerchords crash into almost pretty, almost sad vocal melodies. Sure, thousands of bands have gone back and forth over such territory before, but some of them just click with it better than others, achieving the right spirit and (thanks in part to The Motorz's Kyle Motor, who recorded the album) a production style with a simple yet elusive balance of brightness and roughness. It's the kind of music that doesn't even make us want to pontificate that much, and in this case, we're grateful for that.

"Bonnie & Clyde" by Road Agent Spin