Tonic Mixtape: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

Alabama swamp rockers Maylene and the Sons of Disaster just got a shot out on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The strange thing is, it came from Disney queen Demi Lovato.

Fortunately for the band, the only late night TV their fans watch is probably South Park and they're certainly not tuning in for the Camp Rock star, but one could argue that Lovato was actually fishing for her own cool points. That's because Maylene is one of the coolest underground acts currently bubbling into the mainstream. The band is part southern rock, part post-hardcore, and it combines for a sound that could be called dirty south hard rock. Either way, it's one band that can easily unite fans of both Lynyrd Skynyrd and Fugazi. Get a taste of them here with their new video "Step Up (I'm on It)," which channels the Burt Reynolds' classic "Deliverance" (minus the squealing).

Interestingly, despite their dirty sound and rock style, the band has ties to Christian music, even if you wouldn't know it by listening to them. Singer Taylor Dallas came up in the universally loved Christian hardcore group Underoath, though he split with the band in 2003. Dallas formed Maylene the following year basing the name and original songs around the Ma Barker Gang, a famous Midwest family (Ma and her five sons) during the "public enemy" era of the 30s. According to Taylor, his band makes up the new Ma Barker gang and they sing about the exploits and ultimately the divine justice that meets them in the end. Taylor often heard about the gang growing up, and since they were a backwoods crew, he made sure Maylem's style and sound were also as backwoods-y as possible. The indie act, currently on a North American tour, released their new album III last June.

Dallas made up with his old band in recent years, and Maylene and Underoath even did a tour together. As fate would have it, though, Maylene's buzz is starting bubble over and seems on course to surpass his prior band's success. Ma would definitely be proud.