Twenty years ago, Bill Baird released his first post-Sound Team solo album with {{{Sunset}}}, setting a distinctly DIY course for the songwriter’s stream of droll and poetic wordplay and increasingly experimental, lo-fi musical musings. Baird’s latest project, Heavy Meddo, may be his most fulfilled vision since his Sound Team days though, retaining a cathartic joy and wry wit while the quartet washes in psych-riffs and scouring noise. Sophomore LP Spiritual Stripmall is released via Spaceflight Records with support from Team Trust’s art punk, the melodic garage explosions of Shared Walls, and the hooky post-punk of New Strangers. – Doug Freeman
