Tera Melos

Though powered by prog pretentiousness and punk pissiness, Sacramento’s Tera Melos isn’t just another band of post-rock pansies. These guys came to agitate and irritate anyone who shows up with a preconceived notion. Nick Reinhart layers guitars, loops, electronics — and even the occasional vocal melody — over Nathan Latona’s wobbly, whomping bass and Vince Rogers’s maniacally masterful drumming. If Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew and Squarepusher formed a Minutemen tribute band, this trio’s complex compositional structures, angular rhythms and unpredictable instrumental detours could be the result. And while Tera Melos tunes might have their roots in improvisational jams, the rhythmic focus and balls-out aggression of these three mathematical instrumentalists prevents them from devolving into wanky, noodling dandies. Just when you think the act has lost the thread and a song has gone down the rabbit hole, Tera Melos throws in a melodic moment of pop perfection to piss off the purists and ensure equal opportunity for annoyance.