Clear Lake Forest

The Black Angels are extremely good at figuring out ways to propel their psychedelic mischief forward without worrying all that much about its current influx of popularity.

The Austin band's run of sinister, washed-out soundscapes has taken it from obscurity to elder-statesmen status in a matter of only a decade or so, filing down the familiar calling cards of psych to focus on strong songwriting, anchored by vocalist Alex Maas' flatlining cadences.

On Clear Lake Forest, the Angels' haunted harmonies dig through lazy pop scorchers, as heard on album opener "Sunday Evening," as Maas' adolescent melodies proffer the inquiry, "What if I told you everything you know isn't even really true?/ What if I told you nothing matters in the end?" Buoyed by guitarist Christian Bland's blues-y drones and snappy, jangled strums, the tune's initial snail's pace is ramped up for the chorus and reverbed-out in the verse, vaunting a trippy tempo shift that exacerbates the band's wall-of-sound aesthetics even further.

Clear Lake Forest is a quick listen at just seven songs, but The Black Angels have the wherewithal to pack in enough volleying moods that you feel like someone has sprinkled DMT into your smokes. You know-if you're into that sort of thing.