An unconventional trio from Baton Rouge, A Band Name Hyckoriii—pronounced hickory—reveals talent and imagination in the 14-track album Rural Life: The Soundtrack. But the group’s musical vocabulary and technical skills are limited, leaving much repetition in the album’s minimalist mashups of hip-hop, folk and indie-pop-rock.

Xhriiis Plain, a fluent, high-velocity rapper, emerges as the dominant voice. But not far behind him, the laidback J.A.S. sings and raps, blurring the boundaries between those vocal styles. Joel Paramore contributes electric and acoustic guitar, playing rudimentary, reverb-heavy riffs and chord progressions.

Rural Life’s album’s playful opening track, “Bonjour,” shows that A Band Named Hyckoriii doesn’t take itself too seriously. The playfulness continues with “Beausoleil” and its co-ed rapping over a spare and subtly noisy instrumental backdrop. “71463” pairs Plain’s rushing rap with J.A.S.’s languid vocals, a combination that runs throughout the album. 

“German Coast” is characteristically fragmentary and impressionistic. Every track on Rural Life is essentially a demo or sketch, rather than a finished recording. The melancholy “Bonswa,” one of guitarist Paramore’s compositions, falls on the group’s indie-rock side. It’s more a conventional song than other Rural Life tracks, but still demo-like. Other tracks, especially “Padon” and “La vie Rurale,” highlight J.A.S.’s dreamy blend of rapping and singing, just as A Band Name Hyckoriii, in general, melds styles and sounds together in unexpected ways.