Powers’ long-cooking debut album cements the quartet among Lincoln’s foremost rock technicians, always steady enough for forceful head-nodding, shifty enough to wonder just how we got to this part of the song.

Kelly Houchen and Dave Arredondo’s twin guitars dance, scuffle and at times divorce from each other into entirely different kinds of rock music overlaying Jordan Elfers’ precise and distinct drumming and the deep, grounding weight of Jason Morris’ bass. Night Friends is nine sweaty, anxious songs that find an unexpected calm at their heaviest, slamming two chords in unison after a maze of double solos. While you can tune into the lyrics for poetic morsels, Powers songs identify in their cutting composition and sometimes violent, but always defined, instrumental relationships.

Catch the album release show Saturday at Duffy’s (RSVP here) and listen to our review podcast here:

* * *

Recent On The Record episodes review Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal, The Thermals, McCarthy Trenching, Anna McClellan, The Good Life, Desaparecidos and more. Listen to all the past episodes below, or subscribe to Hear Nebraska’s podcasts on iTunes or your podcast app.