It might be difficult to decipher from the bouncy opener, “First of All,” but Japanther’s 2011 studio album Beets, Limes and Rice was partly inspired by the passing of their friend Beau Velasco from the band Death Set. “Battle of the Hopeless Crushes” sounds more influenced by The Ramones, save for some fuzzy guitar distortion that has more in common with Thurston Moore. With snotty vocals, muscled guitar riffs, and ne'er-do-well love-song lyrics, “Porcupine” and “Ding Dong Alujah” are similarly steeped in early-‘70s New York City punk, HYPERLINK "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A0"à la the Dolls or Dictators. Both the sunnier-sounding “Light Dear” and “Film Star Husband” shift coasts for a Southern California feel; this could be due to Beets, Limes and Rice having been recorded in Los Angeles by Michael Blum (the Michael Jackson and Madonna producer whom Japanther also worked with on the previous album Rock and Roll Ice Cream). Fans of the band’s early days of blasting lo-fi avant noise-rock will find a comforting familiarity in the crumbling-static textures of “Lil Taste” and “Out of Body.”