After the Flood

Drummer Jim White grew up on the music of Ed Kuepper, a guitarist, singer and songwriter with deep roots in the Aussie punk scene. On their debut album as a duo, they perform songs spanning Kuepper’s lengthy discography, including material from his influential bands the Saints and Laughing Clowns, as well as his solo career. White demonstrates for the umpteenth time here that he’s one of the most empathetic drummers of his generation, adding both subtle atmosphere and muscular drive as needed to Kuepper’s uncommonly intimate and affecting songs. The two find a spellbinding trance-punk groove on “The Crying Dance” and “Swing for the Crime” — originally by the Clowns and Saints, respectively — while on “The Ruins” and “Miracles,” they explore elegiac art-folk, sublimating their musical pasts while keeping an unruly fire burning at the heart of the music.