Telekinesis

Despite the efforts of Levon Helm and Grant Hart, the singing drummer remains a dubious prospect. (Blame it on the Henley?) Count among those efforts the crunchy, hummable songs of Benjamin Michael Lerner, whose band Telekinesis recently made the transition from one-man studio project to full-fledged power-pop unit. On the band’s Merge debut, Telekinesis!, Lerner daydreamed about Tokyo and got nostalgic for days spent in sandboxes, but he kept himself grounded in power chords and catchy little choruses. For this year’s 12 Desperate Straight Lines, Lerner once again teamed up with producer Chris Walla, but set out to make something darker: a breakup album.

Updated 05/24/2011