Having more than one skill in life has never been more important, now that the world is changing faster than at any other point in history. Luckily for Ryan Lindsey, he’s well-suited to an era when the idea of doing one job until retirement is pretty much obsolete.

When the frontman for Oklahoma’s Broncho answers his cell in the tour van, he proudly notes he’s good at more than writing songs, something that he’s been doing since he was a teenager. His dishwashing skills are equally excellent, not because he dreams of one day working in a restaurant, but because he finds that getting plates clean makes him feel like “more of a complete human”.

Cleaning in general is something that he has a passion for.

“I think that’s something that I get from my mom and her father,” Lindsey says. “I don’t necessarily need to do it—I’m not one of those people who gets grossed out when things aren’t clean. It’s like it’s just part of my DNA. I’m someone who can really get in there and clean.”

When it’s suggested that might hint at an above-and-beyond attention to detail, the singer doesn’t object, instead shooting back with “That’s good—I like that.”

And that attention to detail probably explains the meticulous job he and his Broncho bandmates did with their third and latest full-length, Double Vanity.

Seeing as how Lindsey comes across as smarter than the average alt-rocker, it shouldn’t surprise that the album’s title is a clever nod to what Broncho has been up to creatively since 2014’s Just Enough Hip to Be Woman. Among the skills Lindsey has picked up over the years is a rudimentary knowledge of the plumbing arts. That would come in handy when Broncho took over a former hot-tub, sink, and, yes, vanity warehouse in Tulsa. After some upgrades to the facilities—including the plumbing—the band set up and eventually began reinventing itself.

Despite regularly placing songs in TV shows (HBO’s Girls), movies (Vacation), and commercials over the past couple of years, Lindsey and his bandmates—guitarist Ben King, bassist Penny Pitchlynn, and drummer Nathan Price—decided quite consciously to go dark with Double Vanity. That’s evident right off the top with the apocalyptic surf waltz “All Time” and the wasteland love grind “Jenny Loves Jenae”. The grimy ’70s strutter “Señora Borealis” smells like Brylcreem and old rockabilly 45s, while “Speed Demon” is echo-drenched voodoobilly that suggests one or more members of Broncho have given up on the world and everything sunny in it.

“We had it pretty dark in the studio with a lot of fog machines going, almost at all times,” he says. “We’d have clouds of fog coming through the studio. We wanted to make it as much of a haunted house as possible. Because we started in September that was around Halloween, so all these Halloween stores were opening, and that’s my favourite time of year.”

One wonders whether, should he ever get tired of Broncho, Lindsey might be interested in set decoration or lighting design. Turns out, however, he might have other plans.

“I’ve always thought that if I didn’t do what I do that I could be a plumber,” he offers. “Anytime I go to someone’s house with a toilet problem, I will pull the thing off the back and start diagnosing. There’s something that I really like about pipes and things flowing through them.”

Broncho plays the Cobalt on Saturday (June 11).