The Dutchess (Kimberly Morrison) and the Duke (Jesse Lortz) initially met in the short-lived post-millennial R&B outfit The Flying Dutchmen, and regrouped a few years later in The Sultanas, a modern girl group that never got off the ground. Given the nostalgic bent of those first two outings, it’s not surprising the pair is still mining the ’60s for inspiration in their newest project. They pull it off shockingly well.

Like so many acts from that time, The Dutchess and the Duke make no effort to hide the source of their inspiration. The Rolling Stones unabashedly borrowed or outright stole from the bluesmen who came before them, and D&D return the favour by lifting Jagger’s rough-hewn vocal style and the Stones’ knack for finding irresistible hooks in the simplest melodies. The forceful acoustic arrangements uncannily recall Between the Buttons, the duo shamelessly aping the Stones’ shameless aping of Bob Dylan, but when the melodies are this timeless, who can fault them?

“Reservoir Park” opens the album with Lortz aggressively snarling about dark clouds and ill omens through a mix of hard-strummed guitar, handclaps and tambourine, with Morrison’s Mama Cass-ish background vocals adding sadness to Lortz’s anger. It’s not all doom and gloom, though — the pair’s lyrics range from insightful (“I realize that just because you lose don’t mean that I have won” from “Strangers”) to profane (“You fucked me in the phone booth, you know you took me by surprise” from the same song) to downright optimistic (“As long as the sun keeps shining on the pines, baby let me tell you things are gonna be fine” on the ironically chipper “Armageddon Song”).

“I Am Just a Ghost” is the band’s masterpiece, though. Guitar, flute and simple percussion ebb and flow, while Lortz’s tough-guy croon and Morrison’s haunting voice battle for control of the overall mood. It’s easily the album’s most ambitious track, and though it could have been recorded 40 years ago, that doesn’t make it any less engrossing today.