If you’ve ever been to Jazz Fest, the annual celebration of New Orleans music and culture, then you’ll feel at home listening to LaMP. The trio—Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarist Scott Metzger, Trey Anastasio Band drummer Russ Lawton and TAB keyboardist/ organist Ray Paczkowski—feels like the embodiment of one of those renowned late-night Jazz Fest jam sessions. All three have played the festival, and the DNA of NOLA funk forefathers The Meters runs through One of Us, LaMP’s second album. Tighter, bolder and more cinematic than their self-titled 2020 debut, One of Us is the result of LaMP becoming a reliable touring entity in the intervening years. Where LaMP found three distinct players learning to come together, One of Us is the trio fully fusing together as, well, one. Album-opener “Cosmo,” the longest track on the 40-minute record, exemplifies how a LaMP song is often structured—the groove-based instrumental’s melodic, hooky riff gives way to knotty, angular “verses” that offer openings for Metzger and Paczkowski to trade solos and leads. Often, two members will work as a unit, laying a foundation for the third to explore. There’s a cool moment midway through “Cosmo” where Paczkowski takes the lead and then cedes to Metzger, whose winding, hypnotic soloing becomes a path for the keyboardist to follow, all while Lawton remains a steadying force keeping the beat. You can hear The Meters on “Nice Girl (Walks Loud),” a song with muscular riffs that make you want to strut. “Ulterior Motives” offers another side of that coin— Metzger’s lyrical guitar lead plays like a late-night stroll with something evil lurking. LaMP goes cinematic on “Muckle,” the kind of track that could soundtrack a spy movie—before Metzger sets off a series of guitar explosions. Over the years, LaMP has evolved into a formidable live act (as documented on last year’s Live at Nectar’s), and “The River Jordan” and “Jasper’s World” both showcase where the band can take these songs on stage.