Photo courtesy of Thrill Jockey Records

The muddy, driving sounds of “Lions of Least,” the badass new track from Virginia trio Pontiak, has all the ingredients necessary for a bass-heavy cut of excellent rock music. Specifically, amps.

“For this album, we were inspired to play using our amps to channel our energy,” explains bassist Jennings Carney. “We didn’t use distortion pedals because we didn’t need them. We turned our amps all the way up to feel the sound waves and that carried us through the process.”

Between that approach and the band’s influences for the track — “it was us channeling Howlin’ Wolf and the Stooges,” says Carney. And what else would you expect from a song (kinda) inspired by the king of the jungle? “I’ve never met any lions except at a zoo,” Carney admits. “But we got our soundboard from a guy who had big cats. We didn’t see them but the cages were pretty intense.”

Pontiak’s new album, Echo Ono, is out February 21 on Thrill Jockey.