It’s fun watching a band get better and bigger (and by that I mean more popular and more respected, not fatter). There’s something supremely satisfying about watching a group of musicians learn to write better songs and express themselves better on their instruments, all the while watching the fanbase grow along with them.

That’s why I’m getting a big kick these days out of Daybreakdown and their sophomore album Shine Like Rust. They’re a great local band that puts on really fun shows and embraces their influences on stage. They’re not breaking any new ground, but they are treading the old roads with reverence.

But now they’re also a band with a really good album, and that means that you can appreciate them from the comfort of your own home or car or, through the magic of the Apple Corporation, pretty much anywhere, as opposed to being restricted to enjoying them in a bar or a field or a parking lot, or a similar public situation.

Make Me Wiser was a fine debut album, but compared to Shine Like Rust it seems like a practice round. Gone are the indulgent drum solos and masturbatory 20-minute tracks. In their place are more sharply focused songs that draw on the band’s songwriting chops as much as their groove-ability.

Part of that focus (I’m guessing) is because the songwriting duties are divvyed up between guitarists Patrick McClary and Reid Stone and keyboardist Eric Carlton. With three guys and 12 songs (including the hidden track), you’re bound to get everybody’s best shot. Between them, the conjure blues boogie, hard country and good ‘ol southern rock—the kind of brew that is such an amalgam of those influences that it’s all of them and none of them at the same time. McClary’s “Shotgun” recalls the muscle rock glory of early Gov’t Mule. Carlton provides the Little Feat-y opening track, “Rearview” and the boogie-woogie “Keeping Time.” And they pull it all together on tunes like the anthemic “One Track.”

But I’m sure that the album’s success also has a lot to do with producer Cary Hudson. Stone and Hudson’s collaboration “Lights” is an album highlight. Sometimes the watchful ears of an outsider help you bring your own talents into focus. Maybe that’s what happened here.

When I got a recent email from Daybreakdown outlining their tour down to Florida and out to Colorado, I imagined how, with a fine new CD in their back pocket and the momentum of a runaway freight train, they must be having a blast and getting bigger (though not necessarily fatter, but maybe) every minute. They’ll be back in a few weeks, and I have a feeling I’ll know the words to their songs a lot better when they do.

Touring Pick: Amy LaVere on Friday August 10th at Two Stick. The last time Ms. LaVere came through town to play a gig at Two-Stick she knocked the socks off of a small but appreciative crowd. I’m guessing she’ll be equally mesmerizing again

Local Pick: Pithecanfunkus Erectus on Saturday, August 18th at Two Stick. Like to dance? Don’t miss the funk-soul stew of P-Rex. This combo of guitarist Tom Queyja, keyboardist Robert Chaffee and bassist Dave Woolworth seldom disappoints.