Kylesa always promised transcendence. The Savannah, Ga., ensemble never bothered sticking to its initial sludge script, and now prog, psych, and grunge groove together in a wall-shaking shimmer, piercing dissonance giving way to spine-caressing lyricism – sometimes all at once. Bandleaders Phil Cope and Laura Pleasants show off five LPs worth of development, coming into their own on “Unspoken,” “Quicksand,” and “Grounded,” all lessons in following the muse down a path of riff-ripened enlightenment. ****

This article appears in August 2 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.