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Scene reports. Regional styles. It all seems charmingly antiquated these days, given how social networking cross-pollination has transcended space and time. But with a hyper-literate, tightly wound, and irreverent brand of post-collegiate rock, Bent Shapes may just be the most quintessentially Boston band of the last few years.

Since forming the group under the name Girlfriends in 2009, principal songwriters Ben Potrykus and Andy Sadoway have largely ignored indie trends leaking from the “industry cities” in favor of churning out earnest, expertly-crafted pop and post-punk laced with “some of the tightest punk poetry around” (Liz Pelly).

2013’s “Feels Weird” (Father/Daughter Records) offered a glimpse at the discomfort and desperation of youth, with self-reflections on personal growth and decay. Over a year of critical acclaim from outlets as diverse as Maximum Rocknroll and Pitchfork, a tour with John Vanderslice, and shows with Fucked Up, Ted Leo, and The Bats followed, culminating with the addition of guitarist Luke Brandfon and bassist Jenny Mudarri.

Bent Shapes spent early 2015 recording “Wolves of Want” with Elio DeLuca (Titus Andronicus), although Potrykus and Sadoway began writing what would become their second album long before “Feels Weird” was even released. “The basic format for how songs came together was the same: Ben would write a guitar riff or vocal melody along with some chords and then we would hash out the arrangement in our rehearsal space,” explains Sadoway. The band took their biggest risk in the studio, electing to record “Wolves of Want” purely analog with 16 tracks. “Even with a relatively small number of tracks, we were able to bring in some additional instruments that we hadn’t added to our palette before: cello, trumpet, trombone to name a few,” says Sadoway. “My favorite part of tracking was when Luke and I got to play a Steinway grand together during the outro of ‘New Starts in Old Dominion.’”

While Tangerine have been termed ‘slacker pop’, these songs are ultra-refined and mindful. This is fast-faced, polished pop driven by intricate patterns and shifting tempos…it all flashes past until the title track closes the record on a more downbeat tone, with flanged guitars leading the way out. ‘the world is still a bright and novel place / we still get anxious, it still feels like a phase’ Miro and Marika sing, acknowledging the lingering tension between freedom and the fears that ride on it.“ Impose Magazine

on the “Sugar Teeth” EP: “The band’s music has been characterized as surf pop, but has hints of R&B and good-natured ‘80s New Wave rock. The title track of this smartly-produced, four-song Ep features Marika Justad’s breathy, sexy vocal floating in a bath of atmospherically reverbed guitar. ‘Sunset,’ a hard-driving, eight-to-the-bar rocker, features a warbling hook brilliantly tossed back and forth as a guitar line…Nice writing! ‘Tender’ twangs and ‘Wild at Heart’ sneaks in a twinkling, Afro-pop guitar line. This band has legs.” The Seattle Times (print)

on “Sunset: “the song opens with a grumbling bassline before layers of airy and distorted guitars ring out. Then whimsical, shouting vocals jump to the forefront before we hear from the guitars again on a delightfully freewheeling chorus.delightfully freewheeling…Tangerine’s translation of feeling is superb.“ stereogum

on “You’ll Always Be Lonely”: “It’s a gorgeous, gold-flecked reminder that love is pain and all relationships fail. “you’ll never come over”, croons Marika, sweetly delivering a bitter pill.“  noisey vice 

“Tangerine make sweet melodies that nod to ‘60s pop and a little to R&B (original and latterday varieties- no, seriously), guitar solos that are models of economy and lots of bashing, crashing drums. it’s dreamy lovely, stuff, with enough polish and gloss to attract non-indie fans.” guardian

“Seattle’s Tangerine have cast themselves in the same mold as Swearin’ and Speedy Ortiz…the band know how to let rip, tearing through their ‘Pale Summer’ EP with the kind of energy Best Coast would love to recapture” nme

“You’re thinking 60s, right? The 60s NEVER sounded like this, nothing sounded like this. Everything- the guitar fading back through, the plaintive edge to the lead vocal. The solid, never grating drum beat. The slightly abrasive, playful guitar solos: the fade to purple- tell everyone.” everett true

“Frontwoman Marika Justad sings with just a sprinkle of sass, as she teases her way through romantice lines like ‘say anything/it;s you and me’…If you like indie-pop at all, you will eat this up.” mtv buzzworthy

“It’s magnetic in that quirky-cute way, but a dash of unforced, totally natural weirdness keeps Koko Beware from the cringe-worthy territory claimed by the likes of doe-eyed Zoey “my vintage dress is so original!” Deschanel” – Get Bent

Newark Wilder’s debut album Vanessa Atalanta (The Cottage Recording Co.) is a diverse cornucopia of psychedelic punk that utilizes sneering guitars, punchy basslines, steadfast drums, and the swagger of frontman Benjamin Kinzer. Kinzer, a classically trained cellist, is the ringleader of the rambunctious outfit that includes Atlanta luminaries Nadir Baaset, Rebecca Flax (Young Sirens), and Gibby Ruby. Vanessa Atalanta was produced by Luciano Giarrano at the infamous East Atlanta hideaway The Cottage. The now 17-year-old Kinzer was specifically drawn to The Cottage because “I knew that Small Reactions and Gold Bears had recorded at The Cottage, and they’re two of my favorite Atlanta bands, so I thought I’d just try it. [ . . . ] it all just worked out really well.” It certainly did. From the opening 6/8 shimmer of “Tint/Shade” through the triumphant coda of “There is no blue without you,” Vanessa Atalanta is a record as bombastically rich as it is dynamically complex. Songs like “Stephen Loves My Eyes” and “Atalanta” hearken back to bands like Can and Joy Division. In “Stephen Loves My Eyes” Kinzer feverishly sings “I don’t have much time /you may need it and I don’t mind”. The song feels like a late night hook-up—intense, liberating, exhilarating. “Atalanta” kicks off with an explosion of guitars that culminates in an acrobatic instrumental section swarming with feedback, delayed guitar trills, and the pulse of Baaset’s kick and snare. However, tracks like “Pharma Girl” display the band’s versatility. “Pharma Girl” opens with an XX-style bass and drum machine groove underscoring Kinzer’s vocal “I want to leave a little light in my head / at all times / feel my arms racing down your spine / feel it like a knife.” Drawing on Kinzer’s classical roots, “Nemo,” in contrast, provides a brooding respite to the album. At its instrumental apex, “Nemo” moves like a submarine that’s looming over a shipwrecked oceanliner—exploring the marine underworld in the same way that post-rock outfits like Explosions in The Sky or Godspeed You! Black Emperor defined the limits of the galaxy. Vanessa Atalanta is a record that is deeply influenced by the city of Atlanta. Kinzer says “[Atlanta] has such an urban and cement aesthetic, but it’s also so full of trees and greenery. I think that’s really influenced the way I write. I always try to create a really strong technical basis, like the cement part of it; a groundwork that some would say, would be more technical and sharp, but then I try to flesh it out with broader brush strokes of deeper melodic color.”