For a four-piece rock ’n’ roll band, there is a lot going on in this album. Originally released as an independent CD in 2020, the band’s eponymous debut was picked up by Houma Records, which celebrated the label’s first-ever vinyl release with an immersive performance at The Columns hotel scheduled for June 5.

Malevitus has been enshrined on vinyl for good reason: the songs have a density and precision amid a tight, streamlined sound with very few extraneous notes, instruments, or effects. Drummer Mike Andrépont drives the band pushing and pulling; like Carlo Nuccio, who replaced Andrépont after he moved to New York, he’s one of those rare rock ’n’ roll drummers who sounds like he’s playing his instrument rather than repeating beats and grooves. Guitarist Rob Cambre channels the skyscraper canyon chimes of Sonic Youth with the switch-on-a-dime chords of D. Boon that never sounds derivative. Bassist Marcus Bronson plays great lines that have rhythmic punch and melodic arc. Then on top of them comes the voice and lyrics of Tiana Hux. Her lyrics are a mix of beat poetry, provocative phrases that shift and jump and never quite reveal their meaning, and rapped syllables. The intensity and power of her voice make it sound like it is alternately blending with, and competing against, the rest of the band, while Hux’s skillful emphasis on certain accents and words adds layers to both the music and her subjects. On songs such as “Fire Department” and “Sugar and Salt,” her voice takes on the quality of another instrument, all of which occupy their own space without crowding each other. Much more than a trio backing up a singer, Malevitus creates a sound strong enough to cover X’s “Universal Corner” and make it sound like they wrote it. To call Malevitus a modern rock or indie rock album is to reduce this powerful music to cliché. It reveals more with each listening and never fails to rock out.