If you haven't already been enjoying them, let this video for Los Angeles ( Buy Song ), (bonus points: spot the lyrical hat-tip to REM) be your introduction to Ill Lit: a genre bending alt-country outfit laying quietly in wait to monopolize your playlist. Especially recommended for fans of Paul Brill, Wilco, and Grandaddy, there's a lot of meat on the bones of Ill Lit's new record Buy MP3 Album . Whether you prefer light meat or dark (just go with it...) you're going to find something satisfying to chew on.

A few highlights:

Satan's doing fine without me ( Buy Song )

The Bridge in Tracy ( Buy Song )

Worth the Wait ( Buy Song )

This just in from the "Said It Better Than I Could've Said It Myself" Department:

...the mourning pedal steel found on album opener Across Country Buy Song fits in perfectly with vintage country, while laptop-born washes of noise bubble over the surface. It's a genre-blending mix [lead singer Daniel] Ahern, a longtime fan of both traditional and electronic songwriting, finds natural.

"The experience people have in a dance club at 4 a.m. when they're all spaced out [is] the same sort of longing and loneliness people feel in a sawdust saloon," he says. "The human experience is very much the same." [The Los Angeles Times]

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And this is actually from a review of a previous Ill Lit record, but when Pitchfork speaks, we listen:

a pop-perfect bit of alt-country, beset by a frail, ethereal synth whisper, like a ghost shooting through the farm, blowing up stalks of hay before finally crashing face-first into a wall [Pitchfork Media]