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Better Part, Lauris Vidal’s first release on boutique Atlanta label P is for Panda, explores a variety of genres, from rough-and-tumble country to punk rock and even reggae. Uniting it all are the Florida-based multi-instrumentalist’s choppy licks, raspy vocals and a deep sense of loss. A deceptively mellow title-track opens the EP, but by the time third-song rave up “Killing Fields” hits, you forget all about that first dreamy haze; Vidal packs the tack with so much energy and rebellion he could be channeling The Who’s Roger Daltrey himself. Closer “Would You” is a primal-scream-of-a-song, in which Vidal growls about “leaving a blood trail” for the “other man” to dirty, amped-up blues. — Kristin Thomas