Jessica Shalvoy on June 22nd, 2016

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In advance of their two muscular performances at Make Music Pasadena, the Americans last month released a new single, “The Right Stuff,” sticking true to their old-school American rock ’n’ roll. The band — Patrick Ferris (vocals, guitar), Zac Sokolow (guitar, banjo), Jake Faulkner (bass) and Tim Carr (drums) — have been busy impressing the likes of T Bone Burnett, Greil Marcus and Ryan Bingham since they formed in 2010. They’ve backed up Nick Cave, Courtney Love and Lucinda Williams, played the first dance at Reese Witherspoon’s wedding and are featured in the upcoming PBS/BBC “American Epic” documentary produced by Jack White, T Bone Burnett and Robert Redford. (The played at the premiere in Berlin in May.)

Serving as a preview to their upcoming album “I’ll Be Yours,” “The Right Stuff” is rooted in traditional Americana and rockabilly, but never sounds outdated or nostalgic. As the track builds you catch The Americans at their best, with Ferris fervently belting “don’t care where it goes / I’m not going back,” over rolling guitars as the rhythm section swells to an energetic peak. As Burnett says, “The Americans are part of this group, these genius twenty-first century musicians that are reinventing American heritage music for this century. And it sounds even better this century.”

||| Stream: “The Right Stuff”