Akron/Family

When Akron/Family last rolled through town a couple of years ago, they were sharing a bill with Deerhunter, and we've got to say that they blew those mimsy shoegazers off the stage. The American three-piece (who split their time between New York and Portland, Oregon) are an unpredictable bunch, apt to channel everything from Appalachian folk to Sabbath-style riffing – often all in the space of one song. This year's Akron/Family II (The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT) was inspired by Japanese underground psychedelia and composed in a cabin on Mt. Meakan, an active volcano in Hokkaido. To confuse things further, the band leaked massively distorted and sonically fucked-up fake versions online prior to the album's release – material which has since been compiled into a double vinyl set of its own, Bmbz. Given all which, maybe it's not so odd that the support act for the first date in their Japanese tour is revered Japanese psych-rock act Fushitsusha. Okay, it's still a little bit odd.