Western Automatic

Even without knowing the individual history of those involved, listen to Chicago quartet Western Automatic and the word "reverential" will inevitably come to mind. It's not enough that Alex Chadwick, Ben Norsworthy, Bob Gilman and Dan Silberman are genuinely putting an incredible amount of passion and sweat into warm, polished nuggets of guitar-pop that recalls the likes of Superdrag or Kings of Leon.

But whether it's in the tight punch of the rhythm section, Chadwick's clear-as-day, commanding vocal presence or his phenomenal fretwork, it's apparent that structure, focus and performing for the good of the song are all priorities for these gents, as it was for their idols that came before them.

Take the blissful "End of the World" from last year's self-titled EP (engineered by Silberman), for instance: Chadwick sings inspirationally about how he'll "go out swingin'" when the universe becomes too much over a bouncy, head-bobbing backdrop, but the song truly hits its stride upon a Mot