“Scholarly” and “rockabilly” are a pair of words one wouldn’t expect to see together in one sentence, let alone as a unit. But for Denver trio The Yawpers, the energy of the mid-20th century country punk scene comes just as naturally as nods to classical literature — so much so that they took their name from a Walt Whitman quote.

The band will play a set of their genre-defying jams on Sunday, Oct. 22 at Lexington’s Green Lantern Bar. It’s just one stop on a nationwide tour, currently moving throughout the Midwest before wrapping up at the band’s hometown in December.

Drummer Noah Shomberg described the band’s sound as “unhinged rock-blues,” and the band’s latest, the concept album Boy In A Well, implements that idea in full force. On a surface level, it’s a record that brings elements of Americana to a punk landscape, but a tragic narrative of a child growing up alone against a landscape of war lies underneath the heavy sounds.

“[Making the album was] incredibly difficult at times, and incredibly easy and smooth at other times,” Shomberg said. “We wrote the record a year and a half-ish ago, and we kinda finished writing it right before we went to Chicago, so when we got into the studio it was still really fresh.”

The process of making an album without playing it live was both liberating and challenging, he continued. “We were kind of tying up all the arrangements on the fly for some of the songs.”

When it came to the band’s inspirations for the record’s sound, Shomberg promptly noted that he and the band’s lead singer Nate Cook were particularly taken with the sound of garage punk band The Cramps.

“We were both like, ‘we need to figure out how to do something like this,” he said, “and while the whole album doesn’t have that vibe, we really wanted to draw from that kind of eclectic, psychobilly, whatever you want to call it sound. You know, it’s like rockabilly on acid.”

Other influences on the Yawpers’ vibe included the projects of punk-blues pioneer Jon Spencer. “I think we tried to capture some of that erratic energy. There’s something that always feels like it could fall apart with some of Jon’s work, but it works.”

The band’s tastes in music span well beyond the landscape heard in their work, though. “I’ve been listening to a lot of Massive Attack on the road, and I’ve been digging into JD McPherson’s new record,” Shomberg said.

Among other genres, he’s a fan of trip-hop, R&B, soul, psychedelic stoner rock from bands like Earthless, and the work of the late Tupac. “We try to diversify, you know. We spend so many hours on the road, you need a broad spectrum of artists to listen to.”

The band’s Lexington show will be a return visit, and their second time playing the Green Lantern after visiting in support of their last album, American Man. “Honestly, that was one of the most memorable shows that we played in a long time. That venue just had a really cool vibe to it, and there were a bunch of people there to listen to music, not just to drink beer and play it cool. We’re particularly excited to come back.”

The Yawpers’ album Boy In A Well is out now on physical and digital formats from Bloodshot Records. The band will be at the Green Lantern on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 9 p.m., with support from Lexington alternative band The Whitehall Bear.