Animal Room, the debut LP by San Antonio’s Last Nighters, plays like something of a concise history of modern Southern indie music. From blues to pop to country twang and indie-rock bluster, Last Nighters are children of the wide-open Texas night — unafraid to be exuberant or to dress like their heroes when the time is right. A diverse and bite-sized introduction, highlights from Animal Room include the sultry almost-ballad “Very Direct,” the jam band sing-along “Your Mind is an Airplane,” and (my favorite) the vehemently stomping crowd-shy lament “The Borough.” Download the whole album at lastnighters.bandcamp.com.
★★★ ½ (out of 5 stars)
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2012.