With a local band name like Fishin’ With Dynamite, we know the music we are going to get is a little, or a lot, off-kilter. Most times, we are treated to straightforward bluesy, country Americana, but there are also some quirky inside jokes we are not quite party to. 

Disseminators opens with a bickering couple, panned right/left, as they approach a suspicious neighbor’s house. The man waxes eloquent about his favorite cereal as the woman complains about the smell, leading into “He’s Never Coming Back,” a song about a meth-cooking bubba with dangerous mental places from which he is never returning.

It is often a gamble to lead off with a comedic song since it sets up our expectations for an album of levity. But the second piece, “Good Trouble,” lets us know there are some teeth to these lyrics about some Civil Rights heroes.

In the past, Fishin’ has been mainly the mouthpiece of local musician Mark Burris, but here, Julie Maners Hood takes the lioness’s share of the vocal duties, and this is a good, err, I mean, a great thing. Shades of Bonnie Raitt are evident in her solid soulful delivery, and her pleasant voice makes this album even more rewarding upon multiple listens. 

A deep tale of unrequited love awaits in “Everything About You.” Equally stirring is “Faith,” where a disillusioned wife lists the things she has more trust in than her wayward husband. “I Ain’t Had a Lotta Luck” is the album’s sole rocker, while “Show Some Love” is a kind of feel-good country anthem. “Rose” tells a tale of a botched investigation of a grisly murder. The song is just plain unpleasant, which was probably the intent.

The humor returns in “Jack the Ripper Eats TV Dinners” and “Candy Apple Red,” a tale about a young man obsessed with his car. Things wrap up with the spiritually leaning “Wild and Free,” then a pleasant cover of “This Is My Father’s World.”

While the country/Americana/blues genres are normally not on my playlist, quirky and original are, making this another enjoyable FWD album.