Christian Serpas likes to call his band a combination of Led Zeppelin and Johnny Cash, but it’s really more like AC/DC and Merle Haggard: His brand of country is the twangy Bakersfield variety, while his rock ’n’ roll is the good-timey, riff-slinging kind. That fusion is pretty much literal on the Haggard tune “I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” which has some arena-ready power chords (and a Ramonesy running time of 1:37). But the lowdown flavor of Haggard’s tune is maintained, the singer just chose to drink in a rowdier watering hole.

This is essentially a greatest-hits CD, equally divided among rockers and ballads with no real duds. You can hear the production approach change over the years, from the garage-band kick of “Hoot and Holler” to a more layered, radio-friendly sound on “If That’s How You Want It”—but he never succumbs to Nashville polish. The former is the album’s only real party song, and a damn good one; its chorus calls out for a shout-along. But the honky-tonk heartbreak songs are Serpas’ real specialty: At least half these songs are about the end of a relationship (only “Sixty Seconds” is about the start of one) and he’s equally adept at a please-come-back song as a good-riddance one. His voice has an emotive appeal—comparisons to Dwight Yoakam wouldn’t be off-base. And what he takes from his Bakersfield heroes is a certain economy of songwriting: You make your point in an accessible way, throw in a tasty guitar solo and move on. As a result the early tracks here sound just as fresh as the new ones.