Local group Memphis McCool is all about the bit, and the bit by their standards. Their music follows the simple themes of color while referencing a rather complicated cocktail of a certain jazzy bluesy rock ‘n’ roll born in the ‘90s that somehow still references the ‘80s in style. Think Huey Lewis & The News, with the more humble charisma of your favorite bar’s go-to band. Contrasting their more minimally produced last release, 2019’s EP The Red One, their new album, The Blue One, out Oct. 19, is—despite the emotional connotations that come with those colors—more upbeat, with more swing and vigor, especially showing up on songs about blissfully bad girls like “Samantha,” and the telling “Gonna Getcha.” The gently grooving pace and quite zealous commitment to good old-fashioned blues rock bring to mind, as a millennial listener, childhood memories of hot August nights spent at hot rod events in Reno, or smoky outdoor rib cook-offs where people are giving out flashy Mardi Gras beads for some reason. Memphis McCool’s The Blue One is, like a tangle of those party beads, or the thousands of pairs of wayfarer sunglasses that are adrift across the world, a complicated yet simple signpost for rock ‘n’ roll—the vision of it that’s referenced time and again, much like “cool,” or all things Americana. We do things to death, but there’s still something to the act of doing cool to death. Stream it on Spotify and keep up with all things McCool at memphismccool.com.