The legend of Durand Jones & The Indications’ self-titled debut focuses on its barebones recording budget, exemplified by the use of a microphone repurposed from an American Idol-branded karaoke machine. Though that lo-fi approach lends plenty of grit to the 2016 LP’s vintage R&B gems, it doesn’t overshadow spectacular performances from Jonesa saxophonist and vocalist who, like the best soul singers, began singing in churchand his Indiana-based band, which borrows from the legendary playbooks of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, The Meters, and The Bar-Kays. Jones’s otherworldly cry opens the working-class anthem “Make a Change” as slinky guitar and organ ride atop an infectious start-and-stop groove that pairs perfectly with Jones’s percussive delivery, making for the album’s finest moment. Elsewhere, Jones, channeling his best James Brown, wails and shouts exhortations at his drummer on the impossibly funky “Groovy Babe” and then chases it with “Giving Up,” a classic slow-burning soul ballad. Though best experienced in intimate environments like the Cat’s Cradle Back Room, the Indications might soon outgrow such spaces. Holy Ghost Tent Revival opens.
