Seraphina Lotkhamnga on January 16th, 2012

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Sugar & the Hi Lows may be from Nashville but it’s quite easy to assume their record collection consists of a handful of Motown artists. Rock and R&B easily roll in to one another more often and easier than many think and the duo, which consists of Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup, knows how to lay just the right amount of the shimmy and sway into their country-tinted rock. Lighthearted on top but not without a heavy retro groove underneath, their forthcoming self-titled debut album channels a sound from the ’50s and ’60s by way of crisp execution. The duo’s tunes range from the soft indie pop gem “Show and Tell” to the rockabilly on “Two Day High.” Then without the slightest hesitation, they pull out those Otis Redding influences and knock out the smooth R&B ballad “I’ve Got You Covered.” But it’s easiest to succumb to “See It For Yourself” which unapologetically rips into the blues with a garage-rock foundation.

||| Download: “See It For Yourself”

||| Live: Sugar & the Hi Lows play Tuesday at the Hotel Cafe.