Landlines, Sad Horse, The Century, Abronia, The Toads
Landlines' basement pop takes on many forms. It's often complex and muscular, with songs exploding at once and sounding like a lo-fi take on Television's guitar masterpiece Marquee Moon. Other times, the band's musical tilt-a-whirl slows down to a languid crawl so you can better parse the wry, Stephen Malkmus–inspired wordplay. JACKSON HATHORN