David Matysiak and Mason (Tilly & the Wall) Brown's debut CD under the Coyotes Bones moniker is crammed with affable, offhanded performances, although no two of them are quite the same. Yearning for some easygoing back-porch strumming? Then the lead cut, "Expire in Style," should do you just fine. Looking for something that screams Midwest indie-rock in every bar? The lackadaisical, white-boys-on-brewski vocals and funhouse slide guitar on "Lightweights Drinking" are certain to be to your liking. Need to wrap your heart around some plainspoken sonic tenderness? "Paint on Your Jeans" is guaranteed to conjure bittersweet memories of old high school chums who drifted out of your life for good that first summer after graduation. Then there's the oddball production number "Your War," with its irresistible heavier-than-heavy bass part and half-audible rant against an unidentified warmonger who finds himself backed into a corner. It doesn't sound like anything that's come before it, and yet it's also barbed with hooks.
Given that the Omaha-based Matysiak and Brown recorded tracks in various parts of the country and brought a variety of guests into the studio with them, all the variety isn't much of a surprise. But the general quality of the tunes is. This definitely isn't one of those spotty "project" CDs that musicians put out when they're bored with their other bands.
