Titus Andronicus

Melding catchy pop melodies to a wash of distorted guitars and literate, verbose lyrics, New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus have been making waves nationwide with their debut record, “The Airing of Grievances.”

Fresh out of the gate in April, the album has garnered the attention and praise of critics everywhere, most notably Pitchfork Media, which included the band in a recent roundup of Best New Music.

The most remarkable thing about Titus Andronicus is its ability to maintain both the melodic sensibility of indie-rock and the stinging aggression of punk in equal proportions.

The band’s talent for straddling this line is complemented nicely by a prominent shoegaze influence – a distortion-heavy musical style popularized in the late ’80s that has reared its head in recent new music.

Packed with references running the gamut from William Shakespeare (the band name itself) to “Seinfeld” (the album title), Titus Andronicus proves to be a well-read band, and the cleverly crafted lyrics on “The Airing of Grievances” echo this notion.

However, they often bury their words under walls of violent noise and indecipherable howling. It is as if they want the listener to search for their messages.

For more information, check out titusandronicustheband.blogspot.com.

- John Barrett