Austin Sound

Some people are bad with names. Mnemonics, associations, cute little rhymes, nothing can help these unfortunate souls from staring blankly into a strange friend’s face and uttering an embarrassed, “Do I know you?” I have no idea who Ethan Durelle is, but after hearing this Waco quartet’s sophomore album, “Talks to the Dark,” Durelle is a name I won’t soon be forgetting.

The album plays out like a Film Noir classic but with a protagonist who isn’t afraid to be seen bleeding. “Downtown Man” begins as a brooding, feedback-tinged warning of the introspection to come, as vocalist Evan Lecker growls, “The way downtown is never that easy…the sun in the sky/ she murders your backside.” The boys start early by building to a sonorous climax of cymbals and flanged guitar before transitioning into “Disruption�Sharks,” a track that splits between sparse dark verses and undeniably catchy choruses. Jeff Weathers’ drum work manages to remain varied without ever resting; his driving rhythms keep the songs moving along and give a sense of restlessness and desperation that is further accented by Lecker’s howling high notes that sound like all the best parts of Sparta’s Jim Ward.