Rage and resignation threaten to drown Porcelain’s second album. Frenetic post-hardcore meltdowns and sludgy guitar bludgeonings send Today’s Minor Victories plummeting to the underworld, and vocalist Steve Pike, though raging against the end times, remains nearly helpless in the face of his demise. “Here we are at the end/ Just smiling,” he harmonizes with fellow guitarist Ryan Fitzgibbon on “Apocalypse,” a longtime live set closer now immortalized on record. Yet, as the LP’s title suggests, the Austin quartet comes up for air occasionally, delighting in melodic guitar interplay and acoustic, pedal steel-augmented introspection like a pearl flashed by Pike upon rescue from the bottom of the ocean. Still kicking, the band celebrates the project with Shallowater and Team Trust on Thursday night and Water Damage and Last Days of Disco Friday. – Carys Anderson
