Sleep Forever (2008)

The sound is certainly big, but this Brooklyn trio's sophomore CD is far from soporific. Big Sleep traffic primarily in stern instrumental rock of the bracing dig-these-clanging-guitars variety, the type of stuff Steve Albini lives for. Truth be told, Sleep Forever may be a tad too stylistically slippery for its own good; ''Organs'' is a prickly exercise in progpsych fusion, ''Little Sister'' flaunts flamenco flourishes, ''Undying Love'' skirts hair-metal territory, and so on. Still, it's an invigorating ride (though we suspect Raymond Chandler would be thoroughly bemused).