Yesterday I mentioned dragging my suitcase to see Perennial at SXSW because I couldn’t check into my Airbnb yet. The next thing I did that fateful afternoon was to pull my bag across the street to a different bar to see Austin’s own Good Looks.

I was impressed by the heartland-rocking indie band’s 2022 album Bummer Year — even more so by “If It’s Gone,” the lead single from new LP Lived Here For A While, which ranked among the best songs of the week when it dropped last month. So I was pleased that, even though Good Looks dropped off their official SXSW showcases in protest, they still played unofficial gigs in Austin that week. The mid-afternoon bar set is not an ideal setting for this band, or most bands, but onstage at the tiny Chess Club, the group affirmed what their records suggest: They’re quite good at emotionally tinted meat-and-potatoes rock ‘n’ roll.

New single “Self-destructor,” out today, keeps up that impression. Tyler Jordan wrote the song about parting ways with a former bandmate. “Didn’t like your ideas,” he sings. “I like you just fine.” The melodies are exquisite on this one, and the band chugs forward with a steady momentum that sweeps me away every time. Below, watch director John TerEick’s video for the track.

Lived Here For A While is out 6/7 on Keeled Scales.