ATO

Danny Barnes’ livewire, plugged-in banjo attack of today doesn’t strike the ear as being any closer to mainstream domestication than the twisted faux-traditionalism that he and the Bad Livers introduced two decades ago. It’s not that he’s trying to be outlandish – he just seems to get his kicks by taking any and every idea that pops into his head for a spin. It’s hard not to get caught up in the cockeyed, rootsy, punkish fun with him on Rocket. The album comes off as a sanguine take on a screwed-up world. That spirit’s there in the disarming way that he presents troubled characters, the subversive tunefulness of the melodies and riffs, and the gnarly, buoyant bite of the grooves that he cooks up with Matt Chamberlain and Zac Rae. Call it Barnes’ own unfettered breed of pop.