Local three-piece KRILL have been Hassle sweethearts since last year’s debut Alam No Hris. After playing incessantly throughout Boston basements, clubs and New England environs, they returned to the Silent Barn in New York to record with Carlos and Julian of Ava Luna. The result ‘Lucky Leaves,’ is a deeply satisfying record for long time fans and newcomers alike. Recorded in a weekend, the album has the gruff, robust feel honed through their plentiful and productive live performances from the past year. Krill’s music can be characterized is its ability to evoke a compelling emotional release through rolling, tumultuous grooves tempered by strained, anxious, tempo changes. Sharp guitar hooks strut with an earnest insistent energy, buoyed by bass lines thumps and drums rolling in scattered, agitated rhythms. Frontman Jonah Furman’s versatile croon punctuates the rumbling, bittersweet mood with direct, unabashed lyrics about the strange struggle of self-generated troubles, letting go of unhealthy habits like self-loathing and trying to get comfortable with being happy. The songs are driven by vitalic dynamic between competing sounds – one strain fierce, acerbic and defiantly pugnacious, the other more loose and fluid – that begin in jarring opposition but gradually blend into one another, culminating in powerful, focused catharsis. This self-released record is a real Boston gem, one to make the city proud. Get it here, and catch them live in Boston next Tuesday at Middlesex before they embark on tour in September. Much love!