In the perpetual comedy that is the life cycle of a rock band, The Black Arrows died too soon in 2008, only to be almost immediately resurrected (in part, anyway) as Inugami - a less angular, less mathematical, more intense rock group. Having solidified their friendship and a strong work ethic in The Arrows, singer/guitarist Nick Walters and bassist Paul Phillips wanted to continue working together and saw the new endeavor as an opportunity to also shift their focus.

Within Inugami, Walters and Phillips still wave the indie-rock flag they raised in The Black Arrows, but now, along with drummer Jeff Thomson (5 Watt Bulb, Tiger Cried Beef, Spacetrucker), they barrel down the two-lane highway without brakes and with a middle finger for a hood ornament. Picture The Replacements, only a little angrier

With one self-titled album out already and another in its third trimester, Inugami is somewhere between its predecessor's reincarnation and its own fragile existence (for however long that winds up being). We sat down with Walters and Phillips recently and had a chat; an edited transcript follows.

CITY: I suppose we should start with the name.

Nick Walters: It's a Japanese word that means "ghost of a wild dog." It's from animism in Japanese culture, where all their gods are animals.

Any direct meaning or you just liked the way it sounded?

Paul Phillips: We just thought it was something cool.

Walters: I'm not an animist. But then again, the last band we were in fell apart, and we're trying to reclaim something with this one.

What are you aiming for with this band?

Walters: After The Black Arrows, which was a bit math rock with some hardcore influence - it was more of a modern kind of thing - I wanted to do something more straight up rock 'n' roll. Not lose the intensity or the emotion, but do something that wasn't afraid to reference stuff from the 60's and 70's.

You can't help but reference those decades if you want to play straight ahead rock.

Walters: I know. But even though that was a natural place to go, in the Black Arrows, I think there was a conscious effort to stay away.

So there are - and were - unavoidable aspects to both bands?

Walters: I think what happens when we play is there's a sort of an intensity and energy that just comes out. I think that's always been there when Paul and I play together.

Why'd The Black Arrows call it quits?

Phillips: The distance [the band was divided between Rochester and Ithaca]. It was tough. Tension within a band is tough anyway. And you'd stew a week and a half between practices.

So is this The Black Arrows, Part 2?

Phillips: I don't think so, because now we just have one guy with ADD in the band.

But those creative differences provide the excitement.

Walters: Every band I've been in, you find the common ground between the members.

Is Inugami's sound what you try to do, or what just happens naturally?

Walters: Both. We don't sit down and plan it so much.

Besides, how you picture yourself and how you actually are can be two different things.

Phillips: Well, I'm a riff guy. I don't know if I've ever written a song start to finish.

Walters: I think that was everyone's approach in the Black Arrows; everyone was cramming all this stuff together and I had to try and figure how to sing over it.

But that's not the Inugami way?

Walters: With Jeff, he's a professional musician; he's studied music. So obviously he has a different approach.

Is that a problem for him or a problem for you? Do you have to smarten up, or does he dumb down?

Walters: I think he does get frustrated sometimes. But I'm enough in between where I can translate.

How do you compose now? What do you write about?

Walters: I write most of the lyrics, but Paul will toss me some phrase he comes up with.

A lyrical riff of sorts?

Phillips: Yeah, actually. I never give a full anything.

Walters: I almost never just sit down and say, I'm going to write a song about this. It's kind of like whatever happens happens. But I think the idea of being born again into something new is a theme in the music. In some ways I'm going back to what I wanted to do before the Black Arrows.

What's that?

Walters: I wanted to be a folk singer.

The Black Arrows gave its life so that Inugami could live. Is Inugami willing to do the same for the benefit of a future, better band?

Phillips: Yeah, it's a definite possibility.