London's Sian Alice Group makes music that sounds haunting and ethereal and tribal and just kind of, what's the word, otherworldly. Yeah, maybe that's it. In a way, they remind me of a more mellow HEALTH meets John Coltrane's famous I'm-going-off-the-deep-end "Ascension" album.

Led by Sian Alice Ahern, this band head off into sonic territories seldom explored in this "indie rock" world that I guess we live in. Sure, lots of other bands mess around with psych and drone and try to experiment with lots of free-jazz repetition and things. But not like the way Sian Alice Group does it.

Sian Alice Group like tension between soft and loud. Again, nothing new there. But unlike those others, these guys don't erupt into loud by slamming on a distortion pedal, or annihilating the drums. They find a climatic peak in tones, rather than raucous riffs. And it almost always leaves the listener feeling satisfied, distortion pedal be damned.

If this sounds like a bunch of faux-cerebral nonsense, well, it probably is. I can't write about Sian Alice Group. I can only listen to them and try to figure out how they make me feel. And so far, I'm sticking with otherworldly. It's the best I've got.

BUY TICKETS TO SEE SIAN ALICE GROUP (WITH THE DODOS) AT THE EL REY THEATER!

BUY TICKETS TO SEE SIAN ALICE GROUP AT THE ECHO!

Sian Alice Group plays the El Rey Theater, on Sunday, September 27th, and The Echo, on Monday, September 28th