In and around Kansas City the last couple of years, it’s been pretty hard to miss the presence of the Grisly Hand. Few bands have had adulation heaped on so quickly and thoroughly as this band has since its inception in 2009. To be fair, they deserve it. The band’s new “Western Ave.” EP is so good that it should be standard issue for local music fans.

It’s one thing for a band to keep a genre so tried and true as the country/Americana idiom fresh and exciting. It’s another thing entirely for a country/Americana band to not only cover Radiohead, but quite arguably do one better than Thom Yorke and company.

The Grisly Hand’s “Thinking About You” brings something just a bit earthier, and frankly a bit more honest, to the feel of one of the better tracks from Radiohead’s early back catalog, and it’s stunning. More tellingly, though, is that it’s not even the best track on the “Western Ave.” EP.

The other cover among the four tracks on the EP, Gram Parsons’ “Still Feeling Blue,” may be a bit more predictable given the genre, but it is also flat-out great. But the two best songs on the EP are the band’s originals.

The title track is the kind of song one may find oneself singing along to before the first listen is over. The vocal harmonies near the end of the track are somewhat reminiscent of Fleet Foxes but somehow again earthier and, though it’s a bit difficult to qualify, to say more “blue-collar” or even “Midwestern” doesn’t quite explain but is probably close enough.

At any rate, it’s a gorgeous song with a lot of heart. The closing track, “Black Coffee,” is maybe a bit more in line with both genre expectations and with the band’s whiskey-soaked reputation as one of the most fun live acts around town and may remind some listeners of days back when one might catch the Kemps and the Wilders at Davey’s opening for Trouble in Mind on a packed Friday night. For those who weren’t around then, that’s to say that it’s fun, smart country and not to be missed.

It’s worth noting that, brilliant performances aside, the “Western Ave.” EP is presented beautifully, with clean and clear but cozy production from Cosgrove Audio and some of the best mastering astute listeners and/or audio geeks may have encountered in some time from Weights and Measures. The “Western Ave.” EP sets a high bar for local music this year, and it’s pretty damned hard not to feel KC proud after hearing it.