In one of the first albums of 2016, Alabama band Looksy makes a New Year’s resolution in the form of the bluesy, southern indie rock album, “The Guest House.” 

Though their sound has southern rock roots and includes influences like Jack White, Kings of Leon and The Black Keys, for Looksy, style is by no means static.

“Making good music is about pushing yourself and evolving constantly,” guitarist and singer Rob Keating said. 

Though “The Guest House” is their first album, Looksy has been playing shows around Tuscaloosa and across much of the Southeast for the past four years, building a following, crafting a sound and preparing for their album along the way—a difficult process given the time and resources involved.

“This record that we just released was the culmination of everything we’ve been working on and were into and interested in in the last two years,” Keating said. 

Hailing from Jasper, Alabama, the members of Looksy feel a strong pride and connection to the Heart of Dixie, especially with the recent popularity of Alabama bands like Alabama Shakes and St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

“In the single track ‘Orleans,’ the song starts out with the line ‘I’ll always love Alabama,’ and I think that’s pretty descriptive of us…we couldn’t be more proud to be from Alabama,” Daniel Ingram, the other guitarist and singer for Looksy, said.“We’re proud to be able to draw from southern styles of music and legitimacy.”

Graduates of the University of Alabama, the members of Looksy adopted Tuscaloosa as a new home. Ingram cites the city’s music scene as one of the most important influences on the band.

“It’s not very cliquey. It’s very easy for us to be ourselves and try new stuff and be supported because it’s a very small scene…everyone involved supports everyone else,” Ingram said. 

The band listed Druid City Brewing Company and Egan’s as their favorite places to play in Tuscaloosa due to the sense of community and support there. Bo Hicks, co-owner of Druid City Brewing Company, reciprocates that feeling. 

“Looksy is a lot of fun. It’s good to see such a high energy original rock band here in Tuscaloosa. They really just feed off the crowd. You can see they’re really getting into it, which makes the crowd get more into it, which just becomes a monster of everybody feeding off each other,” Hicks said.

In fact, it is audience interaction that plays a significant part in Looksy’s music and which Ingram believes separates his band from others.  

“When people see us play live they get a sense of intensity…it’s very animated. It’s very obvious that we really feel what we’re doing and we’re into it on a physical level, not just emotional. We make intense music,” Ingram said. 

As Looksy moves on from “The Guest House,” they hope to continue their trend of evolving their music and enjoying what they play.  

“The fact that we’ve been susceptible to other instruments, rhythms and styles of music is the tipping point. Once you get into weird music you only get into weirder music. For us it’s just about letting our internal compass steer us in the direction of what we like and what seems to be enjoyable to other people,” Ingram said. “We want there to be an aspect of community.”

The connection Looksy seeks to create with their audience seems to be working. 

“They bring indie rock but also some blues rock sensibility to it, so they really cast a good spectrum,” Hicks said. “It’s really accessible, yet its got a good college rock feel to it.”

After promoting “The Guest House,” Looksy plans on performing their diverse work with a tour in the summer.

“I think we do such a variety of things under the umbrella of Looksy…it’s hard to pigeonhole us, which is a good thing,” Keating said.