The Men/Gun Outfit/Filmstrip

Post-punk quartet The Men revoked their gritty Husker Du guitar squalls and decamped to the Catskills to record New Moon, their latest full-length on Sacred Bones and their most restrained album to date. Like Meat Puppets and Dinosaur Jr., whose messy, bruising guitar rock inspires the band’s alternately raucous and introspective sound, The Men aren’t afraid to sneak in some heartfelt twang amid all that balls-out distortion. On “I Saw Her Face,” the lilting, Alex Chilton-worthy chorus devolves into a furious, lap-steel-driven barn-stomper, while ambling, good-natured numbers like “Half Angel Half Light,” “Freaky,” and “Open the Door” are more conventional, radio-friendly fare. Openers Gun Outfit marry Swirlies-style male-female harmonies with blistering Sonic Youth guitars, and local standbys Filmstrip up the pop factor with their by-now classic indie anthems. (Hannah Franklin)