Rough Seven’s sophomore release, Codebreaker, is a chronologically mixed bag of studio cuts dating back to Scully’s initial self-titled solo debut—following the (thankfully, only quasi-) retirement of rock outfit Morning 40 Federation, of which he serves as frontman/ring-master—in 2004. Codebreaker is one rockin’ record, revealing Scully in wisened layers coating a charming sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll ethos.

He opens Codebreaker with gentle acoustic-guitar strumming on “Opportunity Costs,” recorded in 2004 at Truck Farm Studios and featuring on lead guitar late beloved Bywater bon vivant Michael Aaron (to whose “loving memory” Codebreaker is dedicated).

The Rough Seven’s transcendent talents, for years a treat in raucous live shows, highlight the album, particularly in songstress Meschiya Lake’s soaring-yet-guttural vocals (especially on low-fi closing track “Rather Go Blind,” an Etta James cover) and Rob Cambre’s fuzz-guitar flourishes. A Nola-infused draw of blues, country and punk, Codebreaker’s other delights include covers of Ween’s “Birthday Boy” and R&B-era Bob Marley’s “Do It Twice” alongside sing-along jam “Everything but a Broken Heart” and “’Bove the Clouds,” an original swinging with Outlaw Country swagger. Accompanying “Preacher by Day” and its refrain “Preacher by Day/ Crack-smoking whore-monger by night” in the liner notes is a subversive shout-out to Sen. David Vitter and fellow disgraced homophobe Rev. Ted Haggart, their audio from post-scandal public-apologies coming courtesy of Hypocrisy Records.

“St. Anthony” is a rollicking paean to the patron saint of lost items pleading “Help me find my car keys/ And my mind” works to crack the code of stalwart troubadour Scully’s beatific, pretense-free artistic essence.