Rock and roll at its exploratory best. On their debut Outta Site, this Montana trio rumbles across a range of musical landscapes offering driving hard rock at one turn, foreboding pyschedelia at the next and playful, horn-driven funk over the next ridge. Expert, daring musicianship provides the common thread through Viscosity Breakdown's stylistic shifts. Does anyone remember the sound of a searing, not-a-note-wasted guitar solo? Frank Stepek clearly does and provides a consistent helping of tasty guitar lines on Outta Site. Check out his extended runs on the instrumental gem "Art Of Waking."

Bassist Devin Rau and drummer Dave Beaudin, meanwhile, provide a unique foundation of beats and basslines that prop up the atmospheric touches that set Viscosity Breakdown apart from the rest of the modern rock scene. Rau also breaks out his horn collection to help funkify "Fly" and "Gypsy Queen."

Of course, none of this would matter unless VB had some songs that you can't unstick from your brain. They do. "Bleach Blonde" is a rocking trampoline of an opener that gets you psyched for the rest of the party while "Diesel Fuel" and the anthemic title track close the album with a perfect combination of urgency and melody.

VB wears its 70s rock influences on its sleeve (not a bad thing in the musicianship-deprived world of modern rock radio), but the conceptual twists of the band's lyrics and the sometimes humorous, sometimes cryptic between-song banter is pure 21st Century.

Check these guys out. You won't hear anything like them today.

Viscosity Breakdown is:

Frank Stepek - guitars, vocals, feedback
Dave Beaudin - drums
Devin Rau - bass, vocals, horns, additional guitars

Guest performances by:

Josh Pofahl - spoken word and additional vocals on "Fly"
Ryan Farley - additional vocals on "Diesel Fuel"