From the lurching opening chords of "Feathers," it's apparent that Country Mice are rock 'n' rollers who know how to rock. The Brooklyn band, formed in 2008, has that natural (yet elusive) feel that marks great groups. The Neil Young influence is obvious but never outright imitated. Country Mice simply take Young's schematic of "less is more" and adhere to it. Drummer Kurt Kuehn ensures things work out perfectly, whether the Mice are shading toward Americana pop ("Giving Your Heart Away") or flirting with a jam ("High Tide and the Sandman"). Kuehn's in the pocket throughout, giving the band an uncommon power and the room for guitarists Jason Rueger and Ben Bullington to turn in a powerful crunch. "The Wicked" starts with the chord progression of Lou Reed's "Kill Your Sons" (and many other songs) and turns in a perfect under-three-minute gem. "The Enemy" expands upward to five minutes without doing anything stupid or silly. There's not a bum track in the batch.