Sat., June 01, the Americans

If the last Mumford & Sons album didn't single-handedly fill your yearly banjo-listening quota, check out Los Angeles band the Americans. The strain behind lead singer Patrick Ferris' gravelly vocals is convincing, and the title of its latest offering, Home Recordings, is quite literal: The album was recorded live and produced and engineered by the band. It's pushing the notion of playing stubbly, “traditional American music” a little too hard to go unnoticed (it played Reese Witherspoon's wedding in 2011), but the songs themselves are refreshingly devoid of the poppy polish found in much of the current music striving for that Americana sound. 129 E Street in Davis, www.theamericansmusic.com.