Denton band produces sophomore record in short order

Bridges & Blinking Lights first turned heads with its 2007 debut, Standing on the Same Stick.

That record, produced by the Denton quartet, elicited raves for its lush, shoegaze-infused Americana, found on tracks like Lazy Susan or Halfway Home. Refusing to rest on its laurels, Bridges & Blinking Lights' sophomore effort, Heroes, Guns & Snakes, scrapes away the gauze and embraces a more muscular, epic mood.

"The first one we took our time with and recorded it in a bunch of different places, whenever we had time," says frontman Jake Wilganowski. "This one, we had a set amount of time in the studio. The sound is completely different; it's a lot more crisp and in your face."

Wilganowski, bassist Michael Lile, guitarist Marc Montoya and drummer Christopher Considine drafted producer Matt Pence and set up shop at Echo Lab outside Denton in the winter of 2008.

"We didn't say to [Matt], 'Hey, we want the record to sound this way or that way,'" Wilganowski says. "He took a real handle on the way everything sounded, and we liked it. That was cool, because all we had to do was play the songs, you know?"

The very model of productivity, the band had Heroes' 11 songs ready to go; they'd been written ever since Stick dropped.

"I think any band always wants to record, and recording takes so long," Wilganowski says. "Usually, by the time you record something, you've already written another record, which is the case with both of our records.... I think that's the pressure, more than anything. You want to produce as much as possible, but it's hard, having a life and recording costs so much. Basically, we're always itching to record."

But before Bridges & Blinking Lights dives back into the studio, it will celebrate the release of Heroes on Thursday at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton, with support from Spooky Folk and the Heelers.

Throughout its 51-minute run time, Heroes reveals some dark undercurrents, such as those found on songs like The Curse and Deathbed. Despite the infrequent glimmers of sunshine, Wilganowski, who says the record is "more representative of our live show, not real over the top," acknowledges the gloom, even if he cannot fully explain it.

"Every song stands on its own," he says. "If you listen to the album as a whole, it's a dark album in a way.... Some of the songs deal with death and destruction. It has a certain feel, [but] I couldn't really put my finger on what that is."