A little Bobby Bare, a little Belle & Sebastian, the Kamikaze Hearts are alt-country with a heavy indie-pop twang driving them up the college radio charts.

Critics call it "porch rock," but their fifth recording, Oneida Road, in its refinement and excellent production, renders the term insufficient. Who, after all, comes up with four part harmonies and a near no-latency DAW recording system on a porch?

Rustic in sound and appearance, these upstate New Yorkers (Albany, to be exact) are far from uncouth. The crisp, clean production sugarcoats their earnest country cries and banjo-led, western swing. When you’re not paying attention, it's beautiful. The melodies, too, leave very little to be desired. Plentiful and satisfying, they’re almost too good, like heartburn after a five-course meal.

Upbeat intros and hooks accompany melancholy lyrics of heartbreak and loneliness, each reinforcing the American pastime of crying in your beer. “You Can’t Just Get Up and Leave” and “Half of Me” assemble compelling blends of banjos, mandolins and slide guitar, but if there’s going to be a hit single, it’s “Ash Wednesday.” The track begins with lone vocals and a power-pop drum-and-bass beat before quietly exploding in full guitar chords, accompanied on the road home by a banjo/mandolin breakdown.

Three years in the making, the path through Oneida Road is Kamikaze’s celebration of patience and pain.