Todd Snider’s songwriting has remained a well kept secret over the years. Hailing as much from the outlaw country miasma as the alt-folk new wave, Snider’s collaboration with Hard Working Americans has been a bit of a boon for his notoriety. A supergroup of sorts—HWA features members of Widespread Panic, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and more—the band’s second LP, Rest in Chaos, is a dark and soulful trip into the mind, with Snider’s gravelly vocals leading the call on contemplative tunes like “It Runs Together.” The band is given room to press the throttle on the classic rocker “Half-Ass Moses,” and finds itself somewhere in the middle on “Dope Is Dope,” essentially a hilarious soul tune embracing the supposedly sinister underbelly of marijuana that only Snider could have penned. The partnership here seems to have yielded one of the better rock ’n’ roll albums of the year. RYAN J. PRADO