THE HEAVENLY STATES
Delayer

On the heels of the Heavenly States’ supremely bold move of embarking on the first rock tour of Libya after a 30-year travel ban was lifted, the Oakland combo seems to have finally found its voice with Delayer. The album turns out to be a doozy: multi-textured, melodic, and as panoramic as the work of such larger-than-life rock storytellers as the Who. That band’s arpeggios skitter across album opener “Morning Exercise” as singer/guitarist Ted Nesseth shouts, “It hurts so bad/This goes on the record.” It’s an anthem laced with enough punky aggression and radio-friendly hookiness to join Green Day at its end of the dial. Yet the Heavenly States aren’t stuck in full-throttle ambition mode. They’re loose and confident enough to jam lengthily into “The System” before joyfully breaking into a run of turn-it-on-and-turn-it-up imperatives: “Turn on the system now ... I’m gonna write my book ... Put on your best coat.” The States are trying on a slew of different coats here, and if they sound like both a throwback to soulful proto-Bruce Springsteens like John Mellencamp as well as rock revivalists the Hold Steady (especially on “Lost In The Light”), then wait a track or two as they synthesize the cool electronic textures of the Postal Service and Stereolab (“Make Up”) or break into the dreamy, string-swept Bay Area psych-folk of Kelley Stoltz and Vetiver (“Butterflies,” “Roses”). Throughout, the Heavenly States’ ambitious sounds fit together divinely. [Rebel Group, www.therebelgroup.com]

—Kimberly Chun