Rock ’n’ roll-based blues has undergone a resurgence over the past decade or so. The Black Keys are likely the most recognizable band in the new wave of blues-rock, with some influence coming further back from the White Stripes. But does the blues ever really go away?

“The blues is always there, and always relevant,” Monotrio guitarist Jamm Aquino said. “It has swings in pop-culture visibility, but it’s such a standard and influential form of music that it never goes away.”

Ten years in the making, local rock/blues trio Monotrio is set to release its own blast of blues with a party to release its self-titled EP Saturday in the Crossroads showroom at Hawaiian Brian’s.

Members Ernie Ecraela (bass), Jared Tomi (drums) and Aquino (guitar and vocals) worked with producer Nelson Cho to record the EP. Primarily an R&B producer, Cho, they said, understands the process of capturing a blues dynamic.

It’s a solid EP, with just the right amount of space to make it ripe for repeat spins. “Monotrio” will be available this week on iTunes and Amazon.

The EP is five tracks, but really six, as the band considers the song “Don’t Hide” to be two songs, and really their piece de resistance.

“Don’t Hide” at first comes across as a somber rock song, with minor-key lilts giving it undertones of say, Alice in Chains. When the song opens up to “part two,” however, it morphs into a full-on blues stomp.

“I wrote it with a lot of heart,” said Aquino, whose “day job” is as a photographer at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I was playing at Jazz Minds and I went outside to take a break. And there was a stripper from the club that was formerly next door to Jazz Minds standing outside. And she had that thousand-yard stare, smoking a cigarette and looking super sad. And that was the song’s inspiration.”

“Manapua Man,” a twelve-bar blues, is about growing up in Waipahu and Ewa Beach. “It’s kind of an ode to Hawaii,” he said. “Only in Hawaii can you buy food from the back of an unmarked van. The song is basically about me crushing on the manapua man’s daughter. Pre-teen crushes.”

As for the music, Aquino and Monotrio had a vision for that while in the studio, as well.

“I tried to be lyrical,” he said. “I didn’t want to be cramming in as many notes as possible. Live, we showboat, but on the record we wanted to be approachable.

“We want to give the listener something to take with them. It’s like tasting a favorite food — music is a triggered good memory and we want to create some of those moments for people.”