Amer Rouge, the latest album from San Francisco post-punk/country outfit Steakhouse, covers an odd array of topics such as cowboy gulags, Mexican cops, civil war, militia groups, lethal wives, Old Las Vegas, wrecked motel rooms, “new” country, John Travolta, cockfighting, and Las Cruces. Despite the fact that Steakhouse is tagged as a post-punk/country band, Amer Rouge deviates into other stylistic arenas, including rockabilly, surf-rock, rock en Español, and retro country-pop. Essentially, Steakhouse’s sound is more or less spot-on for Quentin Tarantino movies. The album’s title – Amer Rouge (Bitter Red) – was partially persuaded by David Polumbo’s cover art and in part by the songs. Guitarist Reid Black explains, “Midway through the process, we realized that many of the songs involved th...