Post-punk Southern rock don’t get no tougher and funnier than Dexateens’ Nashville-recorded 2015 full-length Stars in Bars, but the record remains unreleased. That’s too bad — producer Mark Nevers gave the Alabama quintet a subtle but telling sonic overhaul on Stars, which sports twin-guitar breaks that evoke the glory days of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band. The record’s “Apocalypse Man” and “Motorcade” benefit from Nevers’ production and mixing expertise, and bandleader Elliott McPherson’s material pokes a stick at the tatters of Southern identity while reveling in the certainty that end times are near. McPherson says the band has re-recorded some of the material at bassist Matt Patton’s Mississippi studio, Dial Back Sound, and plans to release it on their upcoming full-length, Struggler, set to drop later this year. When I saw the band in February, they pushed hard, just like real punks, and they seemed pissed off, which I found mighty gratifying. This Southern heritage shit gets more complicated every day. Also appearing are Nashville country rockers Teddy and the Rough Riders, who released a self-titled debut EP earlier this year. EDD HURT
