Hybrasil took their time writing and recording a second album, but that’s partly because they spent so much time playing club shows, polishing up their tidily unbuttoned sound and working up an inviting pop-rock luster. You can hear the care and the craft that went into each of the 10 uplifting tracks on The Kicker — instead of relying on verse/chorus/verse formulas, the band lock into a groove that they can widen using vocal catch phrases, guitar licks, and rhythmic hooks. And the album is surprisingly ego-less for a band fronted by singer/guitarist Christian McNeill, whose booming voice gives each track an anthemic boost. Jeremy Dryden’s bedrock bass and Jeff Berlin’s muscular drumming are as crucial to the dynamics as McNeill’s emotive delivery. You get the kind of hard-working team effort that made early Springsteen performances so convincing, plus durable material that sounds just as good in the corner of a pub as it would at the center of a giant football stadium.