The unassuming lads in Pinback earned some TV airtime and commercial radio airplay for songs from 2004's masterwork "Summer in Abaddon," but there are no overt lunges for the mainstream on the new "Autumn of the Seraphs" (Touch & Go). If anything, save for the frenetic opener "From Nothing to Nowhere," "Autumn" is noticeably less immediate than its predecessor. But it's also less inward-looking, particularly on the downright jolly "Good to Sea," a perfect blend of vintage synth beeps, sturdy basslines and rhythmic guitar figures that keep creeping in and out of the mix.

"This one is probably more of a departure than anything we've done," principal member Rob Crow says. "It's unexpectedly 'up,' perhaps. It seems a bit more like a band is playing than any of the other ones. It could be the tightest we've had, actually."

Similarly, when experimental indie rock act Animal Collective scored an underground hit with its 2005 album "Feels," the band didn't exactly expect larger labels to come courting. But Domino Records was happy to oblige, and will release Animal Collective's "Strawberry Jam" this week. It comes after three years of steady growth for the group. "Feels" has sold 43,000 units, an improvement over 2004's "Sung Tongs" (27,000), according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Josh "Deakin" Dibb and David Portner are responsible for the more guitar-heavy sound of "Strawberry Jam." "It's heavy and driving and forceful in a way that I feel like 'Feels' was not," Dibb says. "Sonically, that album was much more gentle. We wanted this to be a lot more electronic."