Some Loud Thunder (2007)

The darlings of the indie-rock bloggerati return with Some Loud Thunder, an audacious follow-up to their 2005 self-titled debut. Clearly, they're making no Shinsian bid to soundtrack Zach Braff's next cinematic opus. The giddy art-school anthems of their last album are largely submerged in a cauldron of studio-induced sonic goo. Still, the ragged charm of the band's rickety rhythms and singer Alec Ounsworth's strangled, mournful yelp endures. And at times, as on the piano- and harmonica-laden closer ''Five Easy Pieces,'' Thunder becomes a thing of real beauty.