Overlord

Add Date: September 6 

Artist: Overlord 

Album: The Well-Tempered Overlord 

Label: Storm Tower 

Genre: Alt-rock, indie pop

Comments: When your name is Overlord and you don't play death metal, well, you must have a quirky sense of humor, right? That's certainly the case for this long-running Brooklyn indie-pop band. For one, their MySpace -- remember when that was a thing? -- tag was overlordisnotmetal, and they also have a knack for goofy album and song titles. (Their previous record, released in 2011, was dubbed In Soviet Russia, My Heart Breaks You.)

The band's new release continues to balance what CMJ once described as their "first-rate, '80s-style Manchester mope-rock" with this tongue-in-cheek wittiness. Opening with "You're Gonna Love This One" and closing with a tune called "My Absence Will Go Unnoticed", Overlord churns through just over half an hour of fine, pseudo-vintage indie pop that mixes a bit of Elephant 6-style psychedelia in with their aforementioned Smiths-channeling sad-sack lyricism. If Morrissey knew how to have a good time, his music might sound like what you'll hear on The Well-Tempered Overlord. 

Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 6, 10, 4 

DNP: none