Warning: spontaneous arm-wrestling battles may occur while listening to Kingsley Flood's brand-new track.

"Good boy, do what Momma says," Kingsley Flood frontman Naseem Khuri begs while kicking off "Pick Your Battles," but the man's not talking about himself. The bluesy rock track crackles with the Spaghetti Western swagger of new-school blues-rock acts such as the certifiably massive Black Keys to recent breakthroughs like Alabama Shakes and up-and-comers such as L.A.'s Vintage Trouble, all rusty mic'd vocals gift-wrapped in barbed wire. One battle we bet the band didn't fight: that opening guitar riff. George Hall's plays like a kid opening Christmas presents -- with a machete.

Listen to Kingsley Flood's "Pick Your Battles" after the jump.

The blazing, dust-covered track's a noisier effort than usual for Kingsley Flood, whose past work has touched on Bob Dylan and softer influences with an Americana bent in between the occasional rocker. Sounds like they're taking the heat just fine. Khuri's a Washington, D.C., resident, so "Pick Your Battles" might as well be about our ever-gridlocked Congress -- protest songs are in their DNA.

The band's sophomore album, Battles, will invade the internet on Feb. 5.

+ Listen to Kingsley Flood's "Pick Your Battles."

Photo credit: Dave Green