Ears Wide Open: Minnow

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In its quest for some sonic and topical higher ground, art-rock can come off as heavy-handed and indulgent. The new material from L.A. sextet Minnow avoid those perils even as it grapples with weighty matters such as life, death and fleeting youth. The band began as the project of guitarists Madison Megna and Kenny Tye and drummer Alex Onate, eventually adding singer Nik O’Hara, bassist Daniel Campos and multi-instrumentalist Curtis Baxter (whose unique set-up includes drums, glockenspiel, sleigh bells, tambourines, cymbals, piano and organ). After self-releasing a self-titled EP in late 2012, the band embarked on making its full-length, “Trembles & Temperance” (out Nov. 11). Recorded at The Atomic Garden in Palo Alto with producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Joyce Manor, Whirr), the album corrals Minnow’s many ambitions – sprawling arrangements, intricate harmonics, doubled percussion, high-minded lyrics. “I’m feeling about as Christian / as a crooked politician / but I’m searching for an answer / some proof, a cure,” O’Hara sings in “Indian Summer.” Sometimes Minnow must feel like they’re swimming upstream, but at least they are seekers.

||| Stream: “Indian Summer” and “Coyote (Midnight)”

||| Live: Minnow plays Oct. 13 at the Smell.