Anybody who quotes a Yes song title during a rockabilly song is automatically okay by me (the line in question: “Now you’re in my face, screaming yours is no disgrace.”) That’s one example of how eclectic things get on Wade Hymel’s solo debut. Hymel is normally a band guy, playing drums in Dash Rip Rock, but here he sounds more like a songwriter turned loose.

The rest of Dash appears on one track, but otherwise he does nearly all the singing and playing. And one advantage of being a one-man band is that you can do any damn thing you want. He starts the album on a thoughtful note—“Books Off the Shelf” recalls the Replacements in their prime, with its big guitars and lyrical self-doubt—and like most tracks here, it sports a well-crafted melodic hook. He brings some Byrdsy guitars into “Letter From Home” and some folk-rock Dylan into the title track, but it’s not all rock or indie: “Communication Blues” and “Mississippi Delta” are straight-up Chicago blues and swamp rock.

The most rocking tracks are saved for the tail end, where “At the Party” kicks up the spirit of vintage Southern rock (like the best Skynyrd and Drive-By Truckers tracks, it’s a party song with a serious message between the lines). Two songs are repeated from last year’s overlooked Borealis Rex album, which included Hymel and other Dashers, but “Quagmire” and the punky “2 Much 2 Do” both deserve another go-round. Whether he keeps working solo, band or both, this disc shows Hymel to be holding a few good cards.