Got a sec? Let's talk about Pinecones. The mysterious Athens/Atlanta-split four-piece snuck up on the scene in February with Plays Cosmic Hits, a riff-heavy (and uncharacteristically clean) recording pulled from a WUOG "Live in the Lobby" set and released on local imprint Southern Vision via cassette. (That's the album art above.)

I'm not sure how to describe the group's raspy, repetitious rock and roll other than to say it is no goddamn joke. It's also tremendously exciting. The songs on Play Cosmic Hits cull from bands like Lungfish, Wire and The Ex but feel exhilaratingly fresh—maybe because those sorts of no-nonsense, guitar-centric acts haven't been culled from in a while around these parts. (A certain wife of mine thinks the singer's voice kinda sounds like the dude from Silverchair, which I don't wholly disagree with but also don't wholly dislike.)

Pinecones is currently in the studio working on a proper debut, but you can hear a brand new, rock-solid recording of "Cosmosis," a version of which showed up on Plays Cosmic Hits, below:

Pinecones plays the Caledonia Lounge on Friday, May 30. The show doubles as the release party for Shade's excellent Pipe Dream.