Perley & the Howlin’ Moons willing to go to musical extremes

January 16, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

There’s something to be said about a band that eschews pigeonholing and instead focuses on showing off a wide range of styles.

Such is the case with Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons, which returns to Youngstown for a Saturday show at Cedars.

For years, the Columbus-based quartet has garnered comparisons to Lucinda Williams, which was just fine for lead singer Perley.

However, lately the outfit has been told it has a Black Keys sound, which is decidedly the polar opposite to Williams.

“On the rocking side of things, we’ve gotten some Black Keys, which does surprise me, but it’s kind of cool,” Perley said. “I think maybe when people are saying we sound like The Black Keys, they’re hearing our new song, ‘Hurricane.’ Live, we’re a lot heavier. It’s all the guitar tones.

“That’s a cool comparison. It’s always fun to hear what people say you sound like, and it’s always random. It will always be one extreme to another.”

Those extremes are highlighted on the band’s full-length debut, “Hey Kid,” which is due out Tuesday. Perley said the album includes another rocker, “Bad Reputation.”

“We also have songs like ‘Athens’ and ‘Ghost,’ which are mellow,” Perley said. “Those two go together well. They’re dreamy, nostalgic. I love how those turned out. There is definitely a certain vibe to them. We added an organ player on those tracks and a pedal steel player on ‘Ghost.’ All of those songs remind me of driving down a dirt road.”

That road has been a long path for the Central Ohio act, which began in 2009 and so far has four EPs to its credit. Over the past few years, Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons has garnered radio airplay stateside and in the U.K. In addition, this past fall, “Hurricane” was played during the broadcast of a USC-UCLA football game on ESPN.

“That was pretty random,” Perley said with a laugh.

Speaking of random, she said the act doesn’t do many covers outside of a few traditional tunes and a few Wanda Jackson and Townes Van Zant songs. However, she said the four-piece is planning a surprise cover for its Youngstown date.

“We just learned Black Sabbath’s ‘N.I.B,’ and we’re really excited,” Perley said.

So does that mean Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons is catering to those metal heads who may be in the audience?

“It might be catering to us a little bit, too,” Perley said, laughing. “That’s definitely one of our favorite bands to listen to when we’re driving on the road.”

So the secret is out: Perley wants to be a rocker.

“I do, but I have a softer side, too,” she said. “I’m not afraid to lump it together. We definitely have a wide range of stuff.”