Arlo

Arlo is a band of the kind of back-porch rockers that speed through a 30-minute set on One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer night at your local club, so it makes sense that the group is named for its Tuesday-night soundman back in L.A. Arlo's second LP, Stab the Unstoppable Hero, whittles Weezer pop out of playful three-part harmonies, SoCal psychedelia, and a twang that successfully confirms the Texas roots of vocalists/guitarists Sean Spillane and Nate Greely. Likely to deconstruct the significance of blowing out a flip-flop, having, let's say, stepped on a pop-top, the pair record life with whimsy: The acidhead ooh-wop of "Silkworm" balances nicely against the Kinks backbeat gutcheck of "Little American" ("Are you made of salt or are you sour?/Do you fall apart in the shower?"). All your favorite nods are here: "Runaround" is early Beatles at 90 beats per minute; "Culture" is like Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis dropping by Wilco's Being There sessions. Yet Arlo's tunesmiths have a decidedly upbeat bent all their own. Stab should carve the final letters on the label Sub Pop's grunge epitaph.