The Blind Pets

Power in any trio doesn't come from a Doc Marten stomping the gas, but rather the ability to let up on said pedal in order to amplify the contrasts between sound and space. The Blind Pets stake their home genre on opener "Team," a grunge-loving garage pogo equal parts Seattle and Long Beach, then backup "Big Kids" doubles down on that sound, slower, heavier, with a predilection toward drone. In both cases, Jonas Wilson's production layers all components like a master cake builder, Josh Logan's vocals topping the stack well above his guitars and skate rhythms by bassist Dustin "Dusty" Hannah and drummer Alex Mixson. On LP high "Up All Night," the frontman's voice cracks in all the right spots for a perfect time capsule of adolescent angst and ennui, its musical matte a sandy SoCal lope crossing the Offspring with Britpop. Silver medal/mettle goes to closer "Fade Away," a twanging roadhouse anthem as disarming in laid-back delivery as fifth disc Sharon Is Karen is in beer-showered revelry.