“That’s when I decided I’m better than this, I have more to offer,” he said.

Tulsa rock trio The Bourgeois tends to look at the world from a middle-class point of view, and its music takes aim on subjects affecting American society.

“A lot of the songs you listen to on the radio tend to be songs about girls and more songs about girls, and that’s not anything really interesting to write about,” said Zach Mobley, singer-guitarist and principal lyricist. “There are more interesting topics. We have songs dealing with how income inequality affects America. Different things like that.”

The band is influenced by late ’70s punk and ’90s indie and alternative rock, but it does not rely solely on those sounds. Here and there, an awkwardness resembling Talking Heads can be heard, but it all lies underneath The Bourgeois’ own style.

“When I hear ‘rock music,’ I think of something really bland and corporate-sounding. We’re more edgy than most of what you hear on the radio,” Mobley said.

The group’s first LP, We’re Still in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars, is a power chord- and unison bend-heavy album. Mobley’s vocal styling is reminiscent of John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) and Lou Reed, and the album also includes a cover of Lorde’s “Royals.”

The group formed two years ago with Mobley and drummer Ty Clark. Early on, the pair played with a string of bassists who left for various reasons. Vance Young recently filled the spot full-time.

The Bourgeois is partially a product of Clark’s new direction in life following a year and a half in prison. Clark started playing drums in bands at 12 years old and once opened for Papa Roach. In the early 2000s, he was injured on the job in a machine shop. His treatment included painkillers and led to drug addiction.

“I stopped playing music because all I cared about was how I felt,” he said.

For the next six years, drugs were his life. In 2009, he found himself behind bars. The prison where Clark did time included a band room with a drum set, and he delved back into music there.

“That’s when I decided I’m better than this, I have more to offer,” he said.

Upon his release in 2011, he quickly procured a drum set and began looking for a band. He found a Craigslist post by Mobley and heard samples of his work.

“I thought to myself, ‘I like that band. That guy has something in his voice that is very unique,’” Clark said.

He reached out to Mobley, and the two soon became friends and bandmates.

Their first album featured multiple bassists and a couple of songs Mobley recorded with studio musicians. However, their upcoming release, From the Darkest Corners of the Brightest Room, primarily features only Mobley, Clark and Young.

Check out The Bourgeois with Freak the Mighty 9 p.m. Friday at Blue Note Lounge, 2408 N. Robinson Ave.

Print headline: Middle-class brats, The Bourgeois explores society’s ills and brings its punk-influenced Tulsa rock to Blue Note Lounge on Friday.

  • or