La-goons is a solo project by Timothy Evett out of Kankakee, Illinois, who has been releasing music under the moniker since 2016. And that’s about all I can tell you about it, really. Let’s skip the niceties then and go straight to the appeal of Evett’s latest La-goons album.

Answering Machine is comprised of ten songs, most of which are of the garage pop punk variety—something you might find on Dirtnap Records in the late ’00s. But just as you think Evett loves to play it straight, he throws in a nice twist to his songs. Listen to the alt-rockish break two-thirds into the rippin’ Evacuation Rock, or to Hurry Up and Kewpie, respectively a quick and slow surf-leaning instrumental, or to the Rise Above-indebted Ginger Ale. The six-minute title track is the most surprising of all. At almost 7 minutes, it takes its time to warm up, but the chorus explodes in a hook that is effective as hell. It also sets up nicely Smoking, which is one of the designated hits on the record.

I wasn’t even sure Kankakee was a real place until La-goons put it on the map.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp