His Electro Blue Voice, Ruthless Sperm (Aug. 20, Sub Pop, subpop.com): Beyond winning Album Title of the Year, this debut full-length from Italy’s electro neo-goth band is a satisfying shout-fest full of driving punk rhythms and gothy washes. Beneath all the noise are some killer melodies that’ll sneak up on you like errant spermatozoa. It’s got all the buzz of No Age’s new record, but with more oomph, which anchors it. KELTON SEARS
No Age, An Object (Aug. 20, Sub Pop, subpop.com): The new album from L.A.’s experimental punks is lighter on drums and heavier on spacey atmosphere. Blips and bloops, guitar feedback, and tape delay make the album feel like you’re floating through a cloud of sweaty mosh-pit perspiration, but strangely it lacks the physical immediacy of the mosh pit itself. (Tues., Aug. 20, Washington Hall) KS
Piano Piano, When I Was Not in Myself, No One Alarmed Me (Aug. 18, self-released, pianopianoband.com): Into feedback and dissonance as much as pretty melodies, this Seattle quartet plays mostly instrumental indie rock, steering between ambient passages and more defined song structures. But pop this is not. “Vivid Dreams Ripped Out by the Hand of Nothingness” has a syncopated drum pattern and a feedback guitar lead that sounds like a John Zorn sax solo, while “Christopher Part I” is a languid post-rock jam that would complement a long summer drive with the top down. (Sun., Aug. 18, The Crocodile) DAVE LAKE
Radio Telescope, In the Permafrost EP (out now, self-released, reverbnation.com/radiotelescope): Permafrost’s music is marked by clean, dreamy guitar tones, an overdriven wall of sound, and far-off, reverb-soaked vocals. The band describes its sound as derivative of the late-’80s shoegaze movement, and I couldn’t help but stare at the floor and tap my foot to its warped pop melodies. CORBIN REIFF
Red Liquid, Moonhenge EP (out now, Murder By Illusion, redliquid1.bandcamp.com): Though this four-song EP begins on a very spacey note, it quickly turns into a different brand of hard rock–one with a mix of heavy psychedelic and punk influences. (Sun., Aug.18, Chop Suey) AZARIA PODPLESKY
Scriptures, The Hunters EP (Aug. 20, Translinguistic Other, scripturesmusic.com): If Ennio Morricone got really into acid, he would probably arrange music that sounds a lot like Scriptures. The Seattle “psych metal” group’s new three-song release sounds like cowboys riding Technicolor horses through a hallucinatory desert (in the best way possible). KS
The Trouble Starts, East (out now, self-released, thetroublestarts.com): This tuneful indie-rock four-piece, led by Daniel G. Harmann, with roots in guitar bands like Built to Spill more than in the retro-folk of Fleet Foxes, could just as easily be from London as from Seattle—combining hooks with melancholy, like Mark Kozelek fronting Snow Patrol. Call it rock music for grey skies. (Fri., Aug. 16, Columbia City Theater) DL
We Say Bang!, Operate EP (out now, self-released, wesaybang.bandcamp.com): Mixing elements of blues, punk, and classic rock, We Say Bang! offers three tracks full of joyful chaos that’s equal parts sweaty and enjoyable. KEEGAN PROSSER
