Out of the not-so-long-lost depths of the San Francisco Bay Area punk scene, former Sister Double Happiness and Dicks singer Gary Floyd [ tickets ] has taken the blues direction of the defunct Gary Floyd Band and retooled it into another, tougher rock act. His latest band, Black Kali Ma [ tickets ], has just released its debut CD "You Ride the Pony (I'll Be the Bunny)" on longtime punk beacon Alternative Tentacles.

The band combines Floyd's trustworthy blues-core voice with the two-guitar attack of Matt Margolin (Smokin' Rhythm Prawns) and Danny Roman (Sister Double Happiness), supported by bassist Ed Ivey (Rhythm Pigs) and drummer Bruce Ducheneaux (the Gary Floyd Band).

Black Kali Ma takes a very basic hard rock angle, sticking to song forms and straight changes, rather than power riffs or spacey jam interplay. The band throws in a bit of chainsaw feedback when appropriate, keeps the solos in check and chugs through ten cuts of mainly blue-collar, Southern-style rock.

But the most notable facet of Floyd's new band--which takes its name from the paradoxical Hindu goddess Kali, who both destroys and creates--is that it could appeal to a far wider audience than any one of the rock subgenres that the band's sound is connected to, albeit subtly.

Floyd's on-record persona has a psycho zeal similar to AC/DC's late vocalist Bon Scott, but his Texan vocal style also carries the "Oo-oo, that smell" flavor of Lynyrd Skynyrd's late vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt. Considering the band's drive and its adherence to tested rock 'n' roll forms, the album could appeal to fans of ZZ Top and even Black Sabbath.

While those Southern rock and heavy rock audiences might not exactly come running, Floyd and company may have enough experience to gain recognition on the national scene. Sister Double Happiness made four albums (the band was dropped by Reprise after only one album, but returned with a vengeance with more indie releases); the Gary Floyd Band equaled that number of albums and earned a popular following in Germany because of its live prowess. But after that blues-focused band broke up, Floyd wanted to return to Sister Double Happiness' "meaner" sound.

This release sets him on the right direction, and if college radio and club promoters pick up on this act, Floyd may find that he can start rolling with a regional tour. That could swell into more national attention, and if nothing else, this Southern-style brand of indie hard rock might earn converts in the way alt-country did a few years ago.