J Roddy Walston and The Business, a group of old-fashioned rock’n'roll bruisers from Tennessee, picked up and made Baltimore their hometown in 2004, quickly becoming one of the city’s most exciting live bands. In 2007, they cemented their growing local following with a killer first album, Hail Mega Boys, and continued touring the country and eventually catching the attention of  Vagrant Records. With their self-titled Vagrant debut due out on July 27th, the label has issued a 3-song digital EP on iTunes as an appetizer for the full length. And while that 11-minute primer may not be a full meal, as the first new music from the band in 3 years it’s still an exciting prospect.

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The title track of the Don’t Break The Needle EP is one of The Business’s classic boogie woogie piano rocker, starting at a patient midtempo before Walston throws some Jerry Lee Lewis whoops into the first chorus and the thing gets rolling along. “Brave Man’s Death” is a guitar-driven midtempo track with a great careening guitar solo and some of Walston’s most inspired lyrics. Neither is a frenzied anthem on the level of Hail Mega Boys favorites like “I’ll Tell You What,” but both are reassuring signs that the band isn’t changing up its style or polishing it too much for a national audience.

The one exclusive track on the EP, “Don’t Get Old (Acoustic)” is a bit misleadingly labelled — the track is driven by an acoustic guitar, but also features electric guitar and bass and a driving drumbeat. In fact, it rocks about as hard as anything by the Business, unless of course the electric version on the album manages to top it. We won’t know until July 27th, and until then these songs will do fine to tide us over.