Passover

Some of ’60s psychedelia’s most ominous and most joyous moments came in AM radio hits that carried a whiff of bandwagon jumping, if not outright bubblegum chewing. Austin’s Black Angels carry that tradition forward, teetering on a line between severity and silliness that recalls the Doors, the Jesus and Mary Chain and early Psychedelic Furs. Passover, though, also connects its droogish evocations of Vietnam to the warring ’00s; from “Young Men Dead” to “The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven” and “Bloodhounds on My Trail,” the record feels shadowed by action on the streets of Baghdad. The Angels lighten up, relatively, for the beer-sodden Cramps-style stomp of “Better Off Alone.” Regardless of what you make of Alex Maas’ foreboding mutters, the fuzzy, wah-wahed-drenched guitars and smacking drums will feed your head.