We humans love to put things in boxes. Whether we’re squeezing our ideologies into the confines of a political party or deciding how to most effectively store the Christmas decorations until next year, we seem to find a certain amount of comfort in organization and classification. In the case of classifying Lake Highlands resident Bob Guittard’s musical project Flat People, all efforts are futile. This self-titled, sophomore release blends genres and challenges eardrums. While the most accurate description is probably “alternative rock,” this label fails to highlight the country sprinklings of the pedal steel work, as well as the wide range of guitar and percussion experiments. Flat People, produced by Salim Nourallah at Dallas’ Pleasantry Lane Studios, is an intricately crafted album of well-written songs. An unexpected bit of humor makes an appearance on track 3, “For the Birds,” in which Guittard so intimately and precisely describes the monotony of the daily grind. Perhaps the old system of placing music into genre-defining boxes is “For the Birds” as well. The AudioFile is content to avoid the comforts of definition and simply describe Bob Guittard’s Flat People as really good music. —BEN MAGILL

LIVE CATCH: Check out Flat People at these upcoming shows:
With Vanessa Peters and Salim Nourallah on Saturday, Jan. 12, 7:30 p.m. at Bend Studio.
Opening for Hard Day’s Night on Friday, Feb. 1, 10 p.m. at Club Dada.