We’re used to thinking of Dash Rip Rock as an anarchic thing—the whoopie cushion at a wedding, the Helen Keller joke told during church. While no one was looking though, Dash—the artist formerly known as Dash Rip Rock—has evolved into a good alt.country band. There are potential party favorites like “High Speed Chase” (“on the Natchez Trace”) and the double entendre-fest, “Guru,” but Bill Davis’ tongue is no longer jammed as firmly in his cheek as it once was. Now he’s comfortable with singing the unironic “We’ll Waltz Again,” the latter with wife Kim Davis singing harmony.

The highlights are “Deep in the South” and “Dream Together.” Both do the things good alt.country do—they share roots in country and rock and take both forms equally seriously. “Dream Together” sounds like a song Nick Lowe forgot he pilfered from the Beatles, with a little “Sleepwalk” guitar gliding through it, while “Deep in the South” musically and lyrically builds unpredictably toward the chorus. It’s both a level of craft that we don’t usually associate with Dash Rip Rock, but at the same time, it’s the sort of craft we should expect from someone who has been making songs as long as Davis has.

Though Sonic Boom isn’t made to get the party started, that doesn’t mean it’s Enya. It’s easy to imagine “Plane Song” and “Snows in Mississippi” revving up pretty good live, and the bluegrass-y “Silver Moonlight Rail” could also get trashed up depending on how dexterous the band was feeling on that night. The only real misstep is “Monkeys,” which works too hard to be outrageous. The joke isn’t as funny and the song isn’t as catchy. Then again, senses of humor are funny things and I don’t doubt there are people who will love it. It’s nice to see Dash no longer relying on it to survive.