Drummer + Royal Bangs + Bottle Up and Go

Description
Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney’s new side concern is called, of all things, Drummer. Fortunately, the plot thickens from there: Carney handles bass rather than percussion on the band’s sunny, impressively assured debut, Feel Good Together, and the moniker stems from the fact that all five members have at one point or another done time behind the kit. The group specializes in unabashedly melodic guitar pop—imagine a punkier, more stripped-down Flaming Lips—topped off by ax man Jamie Stillman’s notey leads. Bottle Up and Go plays scuzzy, unhinged rock that screams 1968. We’re not sure how many of the band’s tunes are explicit covers, but they nevertheless recall that era’s prevalent trend of plugged-in white dudes interpreting acoustic black music.