The Band of Heathens (two shows)

McGonigel’s Mucky Duck presents The Band of Heathens at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

In the course of evolving from loose assemblage to world-class rock ’n’ roll outfit, the Band of Heathens has built a potent body of recorded work that’s won the Austin-based ensemble a fiercely loyal fan base and a reputation as one of its hometown’s most vital musical resources.

Sunday Morning Record, The Band of Heathens’ fourth studio album (and seventh overall), marks a milestone in the resilient outfit’s development, capturing the musicians’ remarkable creative chemistry along with the deepening melodic and emotional resonance in the songwriting of founding singer-guitarists Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist.

The musicians’ journey is documented with insight, humor and empathy on such compelling new tunes as “Shotgun,” “Caroline Williams,” “Miss My Life,” “Girl With Indigo Eyes” and “Records in Bed,” which embody the catchy tunes and punchy performances for which BoH is known, while showcasing the subtlety and introspection that have become increasingly prominent in the band’s work, with an added emphasis on the acoustic textures that have long been present in its arsenal.

Sunday Morning Record — released, like all but one of its prior albums, on the band’s own BOH Records label — also benefits from the powerful rapport between founding members Jurdi and Quist, longtime keyboardist Trevor Nealon, and the most recent addition to the band, Richard Millsap on drums.

The qualities that make Sunday Morning Record so compelling have been built into the Band of Heathens from its origins in 2005. It was then that Jurdi, Quist and Colin Brooks — all of whom had already issued solo albums and were working separately as singer-songwriters around Austin — joined forces after informally sitting in on one another’s sets at the now-defunct West 6th Street club Momo’s. The like-minded tunesmiths soon forged a long-term collaboration, and the aggregation became a full-fledged rock ’n’ roll band.

“I’m interested to see how these songs are received when we take them out on the road, because I think that they may make people think differently about the band,” Jurdi concludes. “In all of the chaos surrounding us, music has been a refuge from all of the madness. We chronicled our trip through a strange, weird and intense time. You can hear it all here: the joy, the heartache, the disappointment, the longing and ultimately the resolution that this band has found to continue to make albums and perform shows together.”

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/bandofheathens