Travis Matte and the Kingpins, Highly Influenced (Mhat Productions)

A few months ago, Travis Matte’s single “He Don’t Know You Like I Do” was burning up the KBON airwaves, sometimes being spun twice in a four-hour period. The slow, dreamy swamp pop ballad was so good, in fact, that the King of Swamp Pop, Johnnie Allan, personally visited Matte to buy the single. Another song released around the same time, the rockin’ “Bye Felicia,” was also a crowd favorite but certainly didn’t match the magic of “Like I Do.”

The aforementioned, plus a dozen others (ten originals and two covers), are found here on the Kingpins’ 11th disc. Like the title suggests, there’s a fair amount of genre-hopping, indicating that the Kingpins operate under myriad styles and influences. A lot of these are various hues of rock: ’50s sock-hoppers (“Run Around Sue”), bolting outlaw rockers (“61”) and metal-esque mashups (“Did You Ever Love Me”). “I Like Me Some of You” infectiously blends zydeco and rattling rock together.

The tunes are sequenced so there are surprises in the flow, like “Turtle” Cormier’s nimble-fingered Nashville-ish guitar riffs on “Drinking Moonshine,” which seemingly blaze out of nowhere. And speaking of Cormier, his varied, hook-filled solos usually seal the deal for the song on hand.

“Devils Cut” is another surprise—a galaxy-transporting, Celtic-tinged fiddle line that bursts into a rocky verse and chorus before shifting back to a spacey, sparks-flying ride.

There’s even humor. When Matte tells his boss to kiss it on “Get Rich,” he sings that he’s not going to eat at Burger King but will still have it his way. From the sounds of it, Matte and the Kingpins wouldn’t have it any other way.