Telekinesis

While some bands can be damn hard to categorize, you'd be hard-pressed to label Telekinesis anything but indie rock, and straight-up indie rock at that. After all, the hallmarks are all there: the crunchy power pop guitars, the heart-on-sleeve lyrics, the riled-up, but not too riled-up, rockisms. And while this could bore a guy to tears, Telekinesis (aka Seattle's Michael Benjamin Lerner) makes a surprisingly good show of the ol' indie rock formula on his debut, Telekinesis!, not to mention sounds like the most Merge-y band to sign to Merge in ages. Despite Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla producing, Lerner sidesteps the overly sentimental pap that comes with your typical indie pin-up and instead cuts straight to the no-frills pop of the genre's golden years, bringing to mind Merge underdogs like the Rosebuds, Butterglory and Spent. Sure, it's not the most daring approach but Lerner still shows some mean pop chops on Telekinesis!, driving home no-nonsense songs that sound from the heart without making you cringe.