Baroness

Yellow & Green (Relapse)

Historically overhyped Mastodon Jr. delivers its Leviathan. Four sides quarter Yellow & Green‘s double-album divide, beginning at the Georgians’ seafaring “Take My Bones Away” and “March to the Sea.” Not a drop of water is wasted in their wake. Deceptively soft accusation “Little Things” spearheads the discs’ indie rock crossover, while the monastic harmonies of “Twinkler” and Seventies FM rock bauble “Cocainium” out-chill the Queens of the Stone Age. Green sides, beyond the Red Hot Chili Peppers/Meat Puppets moment “MTNS. (The Crown & Anchor),” plunge further into ocean-rotted folk (“Collapse”), lush acoustic guitars (“Stretchmarker”), and even Radiohead unease (“Psalms Alive”). Perfect. (Baroness plays Fun Fun Fun Fest at Auditorium Shores the first weekend of November.) *****

This article appears in August 10 • 2012.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.