Three Wolf Moon
W
Self-Released

It helps to think of Three Wolf Moon as something like an old Native legend and not, as you might be immediately tempted to do, an homage to Three Dog Night or the ironic, cult-folk t-shirt design (which I’m afraid it is). That way, when you drink in its hazy, star-filled, electric splendor, you can stare at the sky for hours with nothing but an affinity for wandering spirits in your mind. Indeed, W is a three-song brain-tickler, a delicate odyssey of garage-psych obsessed with alphabetical stress, and its trio of  doubled-yous (“Water/Wine,” “Wetbrain,” “The Worst”) are indelible gifts of indie-freak you won’t soon forget. You know, there’s no reason this Canadian band, which features members of Black Wizard, If We Are Machines, and The Best Revenge, can’t run with the likes of Black Mountain and Weird Owl to whatever cosmic finish line awaits ‘em. And I’ll be on the sidelines doing my part by handing out the Kool-Aid when they pass by…and wearing that t-shirt, no doubt.

Listen to W (and download it for free) right here!

Braveyoung
We Are Lonely Animals
The End

Braveyoung used to be known as Giant, and as such they carried a rawer, sludgier tune. Giant was a post-rock band, mind you, but of the heavy, dense variety. Braveyoung is still a post-rock band, but have traded in the atmospheric loudness for an emotional wash of somber movements. We Are Lonely Animals, the North Carolina band’s full-length debut, is even similarly removed from 2009′s two-song EP, Bloom, which still contained traces of Giant’s fuzzy muscle, and is laid out as a yearning whisper of dulcet emptiness. Like a study in solitary existence, We Are Lonely Animals employs every critical nuance — slow strings, delicate piano, chilling chord progressions — to create a cascade of elegant, beautiful, and haunting moments that will numb your soul, all of it accompanied by the desolate parlance of such titles as “And No Two Walked Together,” “Our Teeth Are Falling Out,” and “The Weight of Loss is Whole.” I’m reminded of Ulver or No-Man, or even Agalloch’s White EP in some instances, but those are my bearded roots showing. For the more discerning post-rock lover, Braveyoung will probably call to mind Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky, especially on the album’s longest and most devastating track, “The Light Narrows.” Either way, it’s some magnificent mood music.

Listen to “Dark Days, Including After Midnight” from We Are Lonely Animals!

Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus
Bloom
Transubstans Records

It might be a little tough to get by the name, but once you accept the fact that Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus isn’t the title of a long lost Hardy Boys mystery novel in which sleuthing teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy spoil an international spy ring led by an award-winning British actor and his band of no-good, rich, white skaters from the coast, and that they are indeed a loose n’ groovy psych-rock band from Stockholm, Sweden, then things suddenly become mystically boss. Bloom, their second album and first on label Transubstans after self-releasing their 2007 debut Elefanta, is an incredibly soulful jam that focuses the majority of its attention on delivering its hazy, swirling melodies in a clear and present manner instead of burying them behind layers of fuzz and mud like most acid trippers are apt to do; songs like the organ-fried clock-melters “Skin Deep” and “IAOA” are propelled by an earthy, bluesy force, “Tales of the Future” and “Cosmo Tropic” require some serious hip shakes before that third eye of yours will open, and the Zeppelin-esque “Fernando” might one day replace “Stairway to Heaven” as the last song at Swedish proms. But where JI&TRM really excel is, believe it or not, in their ability to channel the amplified love of Jeff Buckley, as “Elefanta,” “Golden Hours,” and the title track each swell with an unnervingly delicate beauty reminiscent of the late musician’s sound, elevating Bloom beyond a trippy rock n’ roll record into something much more magical. Highly recommended.

Listen to “Golden Hours” from Bloom!