Maybe this isn’t a sound expected from Kentucky, or maybe it doesn’t matter where you come from. Regardless, Louisville natives Nerves Junior show no sign of conventionality with their debut album, As Bright As Your Night Light. They’re local, but not for long. In fact, one of their songs was recently played on a radio station in New York City, and if that’s not a paved path to somewhere, I don’t know what is.

The album art for As Bright As Your Night Light exhibits something similar to a not-as-petrifying Frank from Donnie Darko, and the music it holds is just as mysterious. Housed in drones and synths, it is not particularly bright (though, neither is a night light).

Songs like “Champagne and Peaches” and “Nails to Scratch With” are the snarkiest of the bunch. The former is as fuzzy as a peach, layered in synths and distant drumming. One could mistake them for Kasabian if he didn’t know any better. Meanwhile, the rough-handed guitar riffs and heavy bass lines are what give “Nails to Scratch With” its sly and scraggy demeanor. Here, we see Nerves Junior at their harshest.

On the contrary, “Get Left in the Dark” is the first song with obvious acoustics. The electric guitar, acute and sliding, appears just enough as a filler and a harmonizer. Halfway through the song, violin melts in, and as the song fades out, every layer resonates beautifully within one another. However, vocally is where this song loses its allure. It’s not the lyrics—those are intriguing enough—and it’s not the singer’s voice. Instead, it’s the placement of the words over the music. They seem ill-timed, slightly awkward and there’s no evident chorus. Of course, this is something that sets them aside from what’s considered customary, musically, and maybe it just takes a different kind of ear to appreciate it.

There’s a perpetual buzzing that vibrates the nervous system on As Bright As Your Night Light, bringing about a sense of neuroticism. It gives you the creeps, and yet, fuses with that something ethereal. This ambiance ranges, but always stays within the realm of who Nerves Junior seem to be.