Joe Finstrom’s Mountains EP sounds like walking through the woods on a sunny day. A little dusty, a little warm, both familiar and unpredictable, suffused with joy and humility. This isn’t an EP that carves new territory, though it does hike the trail in its own way.

I’d venture to say that if you’re the type of person who enjoys strolling through the woods, you’ll enjoy Mountains EP, and if you’re not, you won’t. Each song features traditional roots rock instrumentation: the songs are built around acoustic guitar, with drums, bass, and electric guitars fleshing out the sound. “Long Time” opens with a flourish of fiddle; otherwise, these are built like straight-ahead rockers. The mix confines the energy to a palatable collop. It’s easy to hear and experience every element at once without the instruments distracting from one another. Some of the songs, “Love Is a Simple Thing” in particular, yearn for a bit less aural concision. If the guitars could find the edges of their frequencies this would be a head-nodder instead of a toe-tapper.

There’s a consistent vibe of “singer-songwriter with accompaniment” throughout the EP, but there’s also an undercurrent of grunge and classic rock. The soulful crooning over distorted guitars conjures Mark Lanegan’s work with Screaming Trees, while the aw-shucks delivery of slice-of-life lyrics brings Dire Straits to mind. Both of these comparisons crop up at multiple points across each of the five songs, but never so clearly as in “I Love it Anyway.”

Another defining feature of these tracks is how tried-and-true progressions find new life through unexpected manipulations of momentum and dynamics. Just when you think a song will release or explode, it pulls the rug out from under itself. Drums enter and disappear seemingly at random. In small doses it’s a technique that keeps the listener on their toes, constantly reverting attention back to the steady, soothing vocals and clever lyricism. After five songs that refuse to keep the beat, I’m ready for a song that holds it together long enough for me to relax into my camp chair, take off my boots, and enjoy the warm, cozy fireMountains EPhas built. But that’s the thing about walking through the woods: even though you know what to expect, you never know what to expect.