Pinata (Clear)

2012 release from the Chicago trio, the long-awaited follow-up to the trio's celebrated 2008 album Paperwork. Piñata is the sound of volcano! Past distilled into a most potent formula for the present: unsparingly concise, stickily melodic, lyrically stranger, darkly humorous, ferociously driven, fabulously inventive. Clocking in at just over 40 minutes, the album has an aggressive energy that's as exciting as it is unpredictable. It's leaner and meaner than it's predecessors, with the themes behind the songs drawn from more familiar sources. Lead single 'Piñata' is a petty vision of posthumous karmic retribution, while 'Fighter,' the album's dramatic centerpiece, is a violent revenge fantasy set to music. But while the songs can be complex conceptually, the incisive compositions ensure they effortlessly get under your skin.