Ian Johnston might be known to a few Straight readers as the mastermind behind the dreamy downtempo electronica project Shaky Snakes.

His band Skyote couldn’t be more different; the four songs on its new self-titled EP could be described as urban roots rock.

It’s mostly fairly straightforward stuff—gritty guitar rock enlivened by synthesizer melodies—but the closing number, “Stormy Petrel”, demonstrates an affinity for stargazing atmospherics. Johnston has a rough-around-the-edges quality to his voice, a certain world-weariness that gives these songs a “lived-in” feeling—sort of like a Strathcona basement suite, but in a good way, and without the mushrooms growing on the windowsills.