The track record of young Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art is—irony alert—hardly lacking in artistic merit, but the Pica Beats' sophomore album, Beating Back the Claws of the Cold, is its finest release yet. Singer Ryan Barrett's songs strike a perfect balance between inscrutable but resonant lyrics and simply catchy melodies, and his assembled players surround his worn but able singing with bedroom symphonies of guitar, drums, bowed bass, oboe, piano, synthesized strings and horns, vocal harmonies, and even sitar. This album owns autumn. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000. 8 pm, $7, 21+.)