Roger Clyne heats up Skinner’s on Feb. 9

Krista Tschetter

Krista Tschetter

Roger Clyne and his Southwestern Peacemakers have burned quite the name for themselves into the frozen Brookings tundra, mostly through past performances at Skinner’s Pub and at the now-defunct Bash in the Grass.

After their latest Skinner’s Pub show, on Feb. 9, that reputation probably isn’t going anywhere.

Starting about a half hour late, the group made up for lost time before the pub’s expectant crowd by powering through several singles from their new album, Americano!

The new songs stayed in the same Cowboy punk vein as those from past albums, maintaining the delicate balance of dirty rock, desert country and gringo-in-Mexico cheekiness. The band didn’t forget the old favorites from earlier albums and Clyne’s time with the Refreshments.

Clyne showed no signs of a rumored sore throat, and his expressive vocals overcame a too-loud sound system.

The show on a whole was surprisingly gritty for a band whose studio tracks seem the stuff of sunset beach tequila mixers, not a pulsating crowd of college beer-drinkers. But that’s sort of the appeal of the band, live or recorded.

Clyne pens soft ballads and lilting bar tunes that show quite a bit of depth, his Peacemakers lend an edge. The most recent Skinner’s Pub performance was no exception.