Monsoon Season

When Death From Above 1979 vocalist Sebastien Grainger recorded a quieter, more electronic-focused solo record last year, the backup players from his previous solo album were left to their own devices. Bassist-vocalist Nick Sewell and guitarist-keyboardist Andrew Scott are now concentrating on their new project, Biblical, a band that can lull, choogle and demolish, often over the course of a single song. The Canadian band's debut LP, Monsoon Season, is cut into six tracks, all of which cover serious musical terrain. “Married Man” shuffles along with tumbleweeds over alien surfaces. “Traitors” and “All Justice, No Peace” begin in similar fashion, before scattering into dystopian cityscapes. Monsoon Season keeps listeners off balance, bouncing between pretty, crystalline guitar lines and immovable, massive walls of distortion (and some ripping solos). It's also a record that should be experienced in its entirety. The payoff comes on the spaced-out and spacious 11-minute title track, which closes the album and leaves you feeling a little out of sorts. It might be the closest thing to space travel you'll experience in 2014.