Austin's Black Angels waver somewhere between the bipolar, overconfident heroin-jangle of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the warped, acid-drenched psych-punk of fellow Texans the Butthole Surfers. On Passover, their impressive 2006 debut LP on local label Light in the Attic, the band relished quiet-loud schisms and cup-runneth-over moments. That album's "Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" demanded that everyone "wake up, wake up, wake up" before howls and paranoid, tom-thumping rage. On Directions to See a Ghost, though, their heat-stricken drone-psych brick-lays a wall of noise with little in the way of rushes or momentum shifts. Here, the band keep their fits in check, letting the intense moments (like the fuzz-guitar payoff following a lengthy, building military march on "Mission District") come from a natural high. In short, these stoners finally got some good shit.

Tracks like "Sniper" were memorable, but they seemed to feed off a sense of panic that wore a little thin on a full-length release. Passover is all about comfort, groove, and maturity; thankfully, this young band achieve their newfound musical ease without settling on lackadaisical jams—a welcome thing to hear in modern psych.

There's slow grower "18 Years," its organ lines and lingering feedback pretty much mooning every critic who heaped Spacemen 3 comparisons on the last record. Also worth doting upon are two huge songs both in length and composition: the eight-minute "Never/Ever," whose erratic start, high-tempo ramp-up, and Manzarekian organs meld to overshadow the best of contemporary jammers Black Mountain; and 18-minute closer "Snake in the Grass," a slow grower that sounds like Mogwai's "My Father, My King" drenched in bong water.

But what this record gets right—composition, execution, even guitar tone—doesn't make up for far fewer hooks and milder delivery from lead howler Alex Maas. In spite of evident growth and maturity, Directions whizzes by too easily, sounding more like a bridge to eventual greatness than a masterpiece in its own right.

The Black Angels play Wed June 11, Neumo's, 8 pm, $15, 21+. With the Warlocks.

Perchance recommendedrecommendedrecommendedrecommended

Mayhaps recommendedrecommendedrecommended

Possibly recommendedrecommended

Maybe recommended