Single File: Destroyer, Panda Bear, Peter Bjorn and John

Destroyer – Kaputt – “Kaputt”

Dan Bejar talks of chasing girls and cocaine in a dream-like state with a bobbing bass line and retro jazz appeal. Though the percussion and beautiful saxophone solos paired together are befitting for an ’80s perfume commercial, it’s breezy, clean and calming.

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo – “Jesus Fever”

The White Album produced a handful of caressing folk tunes of this kind, and here Vile brings an acoustic melody that lingers somewhere between feverish and reserved with a skip in the beat that sounds like a clear day ahead, even while the singer repeats that he’s “already gone.”

Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some – “Lies”

Bare and percussive with a few good, hammering riffs, it spins punk inspiration into a more polished finished product. Guitars rev infectiously while Peter Moren confesses his compulsion to be truthful to someone from a past relationship.

Panda Bear – Tomboy – “Atiba Song”

“Atiba Song” sounds like part of a futuristic soundtrack with bleary reverb echoing prettily through distant vocals, a trademark of Animal Collective that Noah Lennox has carried into his side project. With dreamy effects it offers a trip into another dimension, even if it’s a bit on the repetitive side and the sort of song played at a school dance that no one really knows how to move to.

Akron/Family – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT – “So It Goes”
This is a two-parter that begins with tribal-like vocal play and mellow guitars that ease into a boiling guitar part and shivering harmonies overlapped by an odd and unrestrained echo-call. The words tumble out loosely before the song comes to a gentle rest with a floaty melody in the last minute.