BATTLES

Battles (New York): Tyondai Braxton, Ian Williams (guitar); Dave Konopka (bass guitar); John Stanier (drums).

If modern day indie music appears to consist of an endless queue of groups that are either bland emo retreads or glitzy disco punkers, it is then that much more refreshing to encounter a band like Battles. With a lineage that consists of some of indie rock's most accomplished musicians, Battles is a veritable neo-prog supergroup, though one that embraces the possibilities of technology used in tandem with instrumental virtuosity.

MIRRORED, the band's debut full-length makes its intent clear from the onset--to ingest 50 years of rock history and regurgitate it as fractilized micro-symphonies. Rhythms bounce whimsically from motorik krautrock beats to glammed up T. Rex shuffles; such stop-on-a-dime surprises seem to be offered up at every turn. Tyondai Braxton's bizarre vocal gibberish--pitched up and looped in real-time--recalls similar experiments by the Animal Collective, while simple, repetitive note progressions give way to full-on guitar bombast (courtesy of Don Caballero's Ian Williams). But the Battles-plan cannot be reduced to mere quiet verse/loud chorus formula. Featuring a generous dose of improvisatory interplay, MIRRORED is tightrope-walking post-rock with a technology-driven edge.

Estimated despatch 14-20 days after ordering.