The brotherly Virginia psych-rock power trio Pontiak — who, full disclosure, are good friends of mine, though we’d still be covering them if they weren’t — will release INNOCENCE, their titanic sludgefest of a new album, in a couple of weeks. The title track, which we posted a couple of weeks ago, shows one side of the album: It’s a heavy-as-all-hell riff-rock battering-ram. But “Wildfires,” the next track that the Carney brothers have shared, is relatively gentle. It starts out in acoustic-ballad mode before blowing out into something grander. I have to imagine that it’ll kill live. Download it below.

Pontiak – “Wildfires”
(via the Sleeping Shaman)

INNOCENCE is out 1/28 on Thrill Jockey.