Delta Spirit,Other Lives

Emerging from the wreckage of the emo band Noise Ratchet, San Diego quintet Delta Spirit headed rootsward, picking up few specifics of the Mississippi Delta per se, but conjuring a ragged fervor that's equal parts folkie-protest, punk, inebriated English music hall, melodic Brit-pop and vintage SoCal rock.

As such, Delta Spirit's August debut, Ode to Sunshine, initially evokes mid-period Kinks, including Ray Davies-like musings on acoustic-driven tunes such as "Tomorrow Goes Away" and "Trashcan," with its twisted piano tinkling. Elsewhere on the album, there are echoes of the Waterboys, while the gorgeous "Strange Vine" fuses soulful Vasquez vocals with jangly guitar out of Bakersfield via Dick Dale and Roger McGuinn.

These guys are reputedly killers live, too, and moreover seem to have found a vital avant-roots pulse that could take them far. Oklahoma dream-folk specialist Other Lives opens.