Bar bands often get lumped at the bottom of the talent ladder. After all, if they were any better they'd be stars, right? But there's a skill to being a good ear band, especially if you're playing your own music. You have to write concise but enjoyable songs and put them across with enough energy to grab the attention of beer-drinkers and trash-talkers.

Hot Water and the V-Roys fill both tickets. A trio, Hot Water, is sort of a combination of Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Georgia Satellites. Solid three-chord rock with plenty of rootsy feel. All songs are written by gravel-voiced singer/ guitarist James Patrick and "Bury Me," "Same Day Twice," "Sugar" and "Hard As I Try" (with a solo courtesy of Sonny Landreth) are as straightforward and irresistibly catchy as you could hope to find. The acoustic "Painless" is a powerfully quiet song about living a lie.

Co-produced by Steve Earle and released on his label, E Squared, the V-Roys are from Knoxville—"the only place in the Southeast that doesn't dress its county jail inmates in blaze orange because they'd be mistaken for UT football fans," according to liner notes and their music has more of a country feel than Hot Water's. But they're still rooted in simplicity and their songs are enjoyably straightforward.

"Sooner or Later" (not the Grass Roots hit) romps along at a rootsy clip; "What's She Found" sounds like a long-lost Tom Petty tune; and the chugging "Cry" does anything but. The country "Pounding Heart" has a layer of muscle on top of its twang while "Goodnight Loser" just cries in its beer.

Both Hot Water and the V-Roys exhibit the best characteristics of bar band mentality. And that's a good thing.