Soda Gardocki at Ecdysiast Arts Museum

A dark, mystical air hangs thick as a hot night on the bayou when Soda and His Million Piece Band convene. And with echoes of Dr. John's Cajun honky-tonk and Nick Cave's raw tales of woeful life and love, the band's self-titled debut could serve as a dusty, horn-and-mandolin-filled soundtrack to "Carnivale." That it comes as a brainchild of Soda – former guitarist of the mid-'90s MTV flash Wax, a band best known for its Spike Jonze-directed video of a guy on fire running – could come as a surprise.