alt-J w/NoMBe

With all due respect to British music fans, they aren’t particularly picky about their buzz bands. Every month, the U.K. press hypes some hot new thing that usually turns out not to be all that hot or all that new. But sometimes they get it right. Named for the keyboard shortcut that produces the ∆ symbol, alt-J have proven to be one of the more lasting British buzz bands. After earning a whole lot of attention stateside for their shimmering 2012 debut, An Awesome Wave, which invited plenty of Radiohead comparisons, they released an even catchier sophomore album in 2014, This Is All Yours. The band kept the momentum going this spring with their third album, Relaxer, another weird-but-not-too-weird set of modernist alt-rock.