Matson Jones

Matson Jones's new EP is basically a brick to keep the door propped open till the band's sophomore full-length comes out, presumably later this year. As between-meal snacks go, though, it's a filling one -- and that's not even counting all those empty carbs in the title. Each of the disc's four songs is a precise, potent capsule of everything that makes Matson Jones great: jaunty drums, yawing cellos, rhythms that batter your skull like waves against the planks of a pirate ship. And, of course, there are the banshee-like squalls of vocalists Martina Grbac and Anna Mascorella, which are captured with more clarity and depth than they were on last year's eponymous debut. The men and women of Matson Jones have elected to perfect, rather than push, their formula this time around. Just when you thought they couldn't get any better.