The Down Trunks

Yeah, the name’s a spoonerism of town drunks. But we can forgive that. The music hits a pleasant, boozy stumble now and then, but these KC boys aren’t nearly as sloppy or as stupid as such a handle implies. In fact, Rock Incorporated is damn near tasteful, with jittery jangle-pop, mild alt-country seasoning and melodic lead lines that, thank God, owe more to VU or Television than to the Byrds or the Burrito Brothers. The guitar work — crisp and wide-ranging without showiness — is the star here. Not that the songs don’t kick — I’ll stack the killer choruses of “A Lay Down” and “Falling Up” against any recent indie offering, and the chirps in “Punchcard” will buzz in your head all day — but the sequencing is a little off. A few too many 5-minute midtempo shuffles gum up the levers, and even though the songs capture the warm lurching feel of knocking back a couple of brews, a little more variety would help. Minor quibbles for an album that manages to be spare and rich at once.