The Dead Science

Mutating faster than a flu virus, Seattle's the Dead Science has grown from a mildly arty indie-rock combo into a full-on deconstruction crew since the release of its rich and challenging 2003 debut, Submariner. Lest you miss the title's reference to one of Marvel Comics' B-list superheroes, frontman Sam Mickens named a track on the band's most recent full-length, 2008's Villainaire, "Make Mine Marvel," after the comic-book company's famous fanboy rallying cry. But don't think there's little else than geeky impishness to Mickens and company's gleeful scrambling of rhythm, melody, texture, language and logic. Sucking sustenance from hip-hop, chamber pop, and even Prince, the Dead Science — like Xiu Xiu and Parenthetical Girls, the two bands it's most closely associated with — continues to morph into a fluttering, fantastical critter capable of an utterly lovely infection.