Rounder

The late, radical historian Howard Zinn could’ve just as easily titled his big book History From Below instead of A People’s History of the United States. It’s no coincidence that the roots-leaning indie rock band Delta Spirit settled on that title for their second album. Zinn inspired the group’s on-the-ground social consciousness. The scrappy, hard-charging ‘60s pop of “911” and the shape-shifting, folk-meets-noise rock story-song “Ballad of Vitaly” express empathy for people, but no patience for violence. Even though this set has a few more finger-picked acoustic songs than its predecessor, it feels more urgent. Part of that’s the subject matter and part is singer Matthew Vasquez’s livewire yowling. Then there’s the pulsing, Eastern-sounding “White Table,” a song as close to a ticking musical time bomb as they’ve come.