Bullets of Orange

Here’s a Nashville-based quartet that sounds like it’s swinging for the fences. These lads aren’t trying to replicate the DNA of Johnny Cash, though; instead, the template seems to be big, emotional noise from the British Isles—Radiohead circa The Bends, maybe some Achtung Baby-era U2. That’s something a lot of bands have tried to do, and there was a period when major-label rosters were clogged up with the result. The twist is that the band’s florid melodies sound as if Rufus Wainwright had a hand in writing them, and the lush production—huge washes of guitar and synth noise, with soaring, ELO-like falsetto choruses playing against singer Quinlan’s abraded vocals—sounds weirdly out of time. Still, it works, and this is a solid album. Sacramento music entrepreneur Dave Park has some working connection with the band, which is probably why it’s playing a few local dates. Worth checking out? Yep.