What if Elvis Costello were backed by the Clash? What if they were all Memphis natives? What if they recorded their first album 50 years ago while Costello had laryngitis in a bunker only to have the master tapes deep-fried in the dingiest Memphis café? King Louie and the Loose Diamonds attempt to answer these brain-busters with Memphis Treet, an album of gloriously raw, garage-country-pop-punk.

While garage rock bands are a dime a dozen these days, Louie and his Diamonds set themselves apart by embracing Tennessee honky-tonk. Guitars drenched in slap back delay and vibrato are abundant among two-step beats, country bounce bass lines and Hammond B3 organ riffs. These elements mixed with the harsh production and the biting, energetic guitars of early Clash records produces a fresh, unique drop in an ocean of MC5 imitators.

Front man and chief songwriter King Louie is a veteran of the Memphis and New Orleans underground music scenes, and he tells typical country tales of heartache and alcoholism in a haggard voice ready-made for the dirty Tennessee joints. The band, which includes Jimbo Mathus and Harlan T. Bobo, pops, sizzles, and cuts through the lo-fi production to take the music a few notches above mindless garage bashing. The deep groove of “Girl in the Holler” would make even the most jaded listener’s foot tap and head bob along to the dirty guitar line. The standout is “Heart,” a classic tear-in-your-beer country ballad played with somber maturity without getting stuffy.

It’s not all Budweiser and barbeque, however. On tracks like the power pop “She’s Losing Her Hair,” the alt-country charm of the band is gone as King Louie becomes more Bryan Adams than Ryan Adams. King Louie and the Loose Diamonds work best when they are being themselves—loud, fast, and triumphantly raunchy.