Japanese Breakfast

Add Date: July 4

Artist: Japanese Breakfast

Album: Soft Sounds from Another Planet

Label: Dead Oceans

Genre: Alt-pop

Comments: Michelle Zauner's recordings as Japanese Breakfast have been labeled as "experimental pop," which is naturally a vague and open-ended tag. As was the case with last year's Dead Oceans debut Psychopomp, her second LP under that moniker, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, certainly takes liberties with the constructs of genre -- and to great effect.

Things are pleasantly off-kilter right from the get-go, with the excellent 6-minute-plus opener "Diving Woman" hinting at -- but never quite settling on -- Stereolab-esque motorik. Elsewhere, the spoken-word intro on album standout "Machinist" hardly foreshadows the saxophone part later on, which turns it into a full-fledged pop song; the title cut is a fairly straightforward indie ballad; "12 Steps" is a fuzzy garage-pop nugget; "Boyish" is girl-group pop from, well, another planet.

By now, you get the idea: Zauner's music hops all over the place, and she's quite adept at just about everything that she takes a stab at. If you're looking for a cohesive, easy-to-pigeonhole indie rock record, then Soft Sounds from Another Planet isn't for you. But if you want a fine collection of genre-busting alt-pop tunes, then you're on the right orb.

Recommended Tracks: 3, 6, 7, 9, 5, 1

DNP: 2