The Deeves, composed of Trevor Schellhorn, Del Schellhorn, Jon Love and Greg Ehrig, released “Lo-Fi Modern Way” in 2020 and earlier this summer put out the record on 10-inch vinyl.

The Deeves formed in 2017 when husband and wife duo Trevor and Del Schellhorn started putting songs together. Trevor had played drums for many years with other groups and was looking to move to playing the guitar. With scarcity came opportunity. Unable to find a drummer in the area, Del offered to learn to play drums so the band could get on its feet.

Trevor remembers encouraging Del by saying all she needed to do was keep a steady right foot on the kick drum.

Up to that point the only other musical training Del had was playing clarinet in school when she was growing up.

After a year of Facebook Live concerts and Deeves in the Driveway garage jams, the Grundy County rock and roll outfit The Deeves got back in front of a full audience at Becktoberfest on Oct. 2. Pictured are, from left, Trevor Schellhorn, Del Schellhorn, Jon Love and Greg Ehrig. The band recently released their second original album, “Lo-Fi Modern Way” on 12-in LP vinyl.

As the project took off, The Deeves added Greg Ehrig to play keyboard and most recently Jon Love who plays bass guitar and sings.

All four members of The Deeves grew up in the Reinbeck area and either still live in town or live close by.

The band sometimes wears work shirts with their emblem on the back when they play shows. It seems fitting for the group who are all in their 30s and 40s and have full time jobs and lives outside of the band.

“You don’t have to be a virtuoso to write songs or to play music,” Trevor Schellhorn said. “I think this album is living proof of that. It’s something we’re very proud of.”

The Deeves’ latest album was a project born inside the quarantine days of spring 2020.

Bassist Jon Love had just joined the band and the first few songs that would eventually end up on the album were in their early stages when the COVID-19 pandemic threw the entire country off track in March 2020.

With Trevor and Del still able to practice at home, the band plugged away at writing songs and practicing online.

The group recalls even putting up a clear plastic divider in the Schellhorn’s garage so they could practice with the full band while remaining safe at the same time.

In the summer of 2020 The Deeves got together with Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studios south of Iowa City and, over four days, put down 10 tracks that would become “Lo-Fi Modern Way”.

The record was released on streaming platforms a year later in the spring of 2021.

Comparing The Deeves’ most recent record with their 2018 self-titled debut, it’s clear they’ve grown and defined their creative voice over time.

“Lo-Fi Modern Way” gives listeners exactly what the title advertises. It’s garage rockabilly with a good heart and an eye toward modern alternative rock aesthetics.

The band cites influences ranging from The Beatles, Carl Perkins, AC/DC and early Motown artists with songs like “Some things” and “Bop Boom Pop!” drawing listeners of all ages out to the dance floor.

Schellhorn’s full-throated baritone holds all of the attitude bestowed upon rock and roll vocalists from Little Richard and James Brown, but with a Midwestern outlook that is at once kind and lonely.

Ehrig’s keys oscillate between driving honky-tonk melodies and electric underlayment that bring melancholy synth and organ sounds to songs like “Boy No More” and “I’m So Lonely”.

“Lo-Fi Modern Way” credits Trevor Schellhorn as the songwriter for the majority of the tunes with the exception of three in which Love had a hand.

Love’s influence injects atmosphere and contemplation into the turned-up sensibility of the Schellhorns. At points in the album, shades of Orville Peck and Neko Case appear as Schellhorn’s Gretsch hollow body rings out a distant surf tremolo and reverb effects send the vocals toward the horizon.

While the learning curve has been steep for Del Schellhorn, her drumming fits The Deeves to a tee.

The righteous thump of her kick drum paired with Trevor’s singular blues twang vocals draws a beeline right to The Black Keys who have made their living over the past two decades off stripped-down retro rock.

The album as a whole brings listeners into a house party where the living room is a dance floor, there’s a couple kissing in the hallway and outside a few loners nurse their heartbreak in the light of the moon.

The Deeves returned to the stage in the past month, playing Becktoberfest in Reinbeck on Oct. 2 and last weekend at one of their favorite venues, Octopus College Hill in Cedar Falls.

The band’s two albums, “The Deeves” and “Lo-Fi Modern Way”, can be purchased online at thedeeves.com.

Vinyl copies of “Lo-Fi Modern Way” are also on sale at record stores around the state including The Dig Inn (Reinbeck), Wax Xstatic Records (Marshalltown) and Record Collector (Iowa City).