[AMERICANA] Michael Dean Damron has done some growing up since leaving his rowdy Southern rock outfit I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House late last year. His new band, Thee Loyal Bastards, turns the volume down a touch and puts greater emphasis on songwriting than SOB—with its burly guitars and shock-and-awe live shows—ever did.

To ease the transition from shitkicking music to singer-songwriter fare, Damron opens the Bastards’ first release, Bad Days Ahead (which sees a very limited release this Friday), with “I Love the Rain,” a blues-rock scorcher driven by electrified harmonica and a slightly altered AC/DC riff. Damron’s focus with Thee Loyal Bastards still drifts toward the usual suspects of religion and politics, but where Sonofabitch framed those subjects with populist sentiment, the new material often seems downright lonely. “Right now my heart is broken/ My spirit’s weak/ There ain’t no rest for a rock ’n’ roll man like me,” Damron sings on “Hotter Hell.”

Despite the music’s somber tone, Damron must have won the backing-band lottery, as legendary Portland drummer Sam Henry (the Wipers) and bassist Allen Hunter (the Eels) provide an unbeatable rhythm section. And from Morgan Geer’s Brett Gurewitz-esque guitar solo on “By the Time I Get to Heaven” to Heidi Hellbender’s awesome vocal harmonies on “Hallelujah,” Damron has found a crew that can both challenge and grow with him.

And as Damron steps into less certain territory, his appeal only intensifies—even though he still lapses into good ol’ boy clichés from time to time (as on “Moonshine,” a song about a childhood horse serving as sanctuary from a broken home).

It’s no secret that Damron has a lot of growing to do before he lands in the company of his heroes (Johnny Cash and Townes Van Zandt among them), but he has two advantages over most folks: He’s not afraid to share his life onstage, and damned if he don’t look the part.

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SEE IT: Thee Loyal Bastards play Friday, Nov. 9, with North Twin, Moonshine Hangover and Scotland Barr & the Slow Drags at Dante’s. 9:30 pm. $7. 21+. 50 copies of Bad Days Ahead, officially out Tuesday, Feb. 19, will be available for purchase.