If the melancholy spirit of the Grifters' new album, Full Blown Possession, was personified, it would be a guy shuffling, head down, through life ("Happy"), picking his emotional scabs ("Blood Thirsty Lovers") and looking up only for a stiff drink and a red-haired woman ("Cigarette"). On Possession, the Memphis, Tenn., indie rockers' three guitars and the assorted Moog, Mellotron and organ create...

It's amazing how quickly inspiration turns to parody these days. During the mid-'80s, the earsplitting feedback and dissonant tuning of a Sonic Youth record sounded inventive, branching off into uncharted territory. Now bands seem to play a game of who can out-hip whom with their disaffection, who can sing farther off-key to prove how tired and jaded they are, and who can write the most disjointed...

Like pavement and guided by Voices, two more widely heralded indie bands, the Grifters are low-fi explorers enchanted with pop but also in love with the cathartic possibilities of white noise. And so what? There are a billion bands out there who fit that description, disciples of the pre-Lollapalooza holy trinity of Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr.

But after an awkward debut album...