Velvet Truckstop’s Sweet Release (self-released) feels like a set you might catch in a forgotten watering hole, where those notes make you shrug off what darkness lies beyond that swinging door. It’s the sound of neon stars sparkling in dingy-bar band dreams, breathing whiskey-kissed vapors down your neck and beckoning you to a scuffed dance floor. VT possess classic rock-and-roll elements, potently muddled, from Jamie Dose’s invitingly gruff-around-the-edges vocals, to Dorsey Parker’s fleet-footed guitar turns, to Brad Curtioff’s muscular B3 and jangly piano. With some notable guests lending their chops, like Buddy Cage (pedal steel), Tom Constanten (piano and B3), and Artimus Pyle (percussion), it’s clear these cats have some seriously infectious charms. Populated with highway-weary lovers (the winning “Carolina Way”) and the road’s siren call (the driving “Mercenary Wind”), their songs aim for the heart of Allmans and Skynyrd traveling territory, with shifts into workingman’s blues. “My health plan/Is I don’t get sick/Ten dollars an hour/And I’m glad to get it,” Dose growls on raucous, brass-peppered closer “Lover Liar.” A thoroughly satisfying slice of straight-up southern rock from some boys who sure know how to lay it down.