Buzzbox

Saturday night marks Shiner‘s CD-release party for The Egg, but thanks to the band’s strategy of filling its sets with fresh material in anticipation of a new release, fans have caught sneak previews of album tracks for months. The group has unveiled such prime selections as the disc’s majestic opener, “The Truth About Cows,” on which an eerie guitar hook grazes the surface of a plodding low-end foundation; the choppy “Surgery,” which sees a renegade riff wrestle control away from the tune and finish alone; and “Play Dead,” a mostly melodic song that concludes with a flurry of spasmic drumbeats and squealing feedback. Some of the best compositions remain confined to record, at least for now. It takes an Egg hunt to uncover gems such as “The Top of the World,” an unexpectedly menacing description of brutal beatings and car bombings cloaked with gently chiming guitars and slight, tuneful vocals, and “Spook the Herd,” a “Truth About Cows” reprise that slows that song’s structure and then erupts with a jarring blast of noise.

But as good as these cuts are, it would be difficult to capture their essence live. Shiner’s other material, which offers a complex variation on grunge’s soft-loud dynamics, seems made for the stage. Starting with seemingly arrhythmic drumbeats or slightly irregular guitar lines, Shiner adds elements that interact erratically before merging on pounding, absorbing choruses. The components then scatter, leading to lengthy instrumental interludes, before reuniting for one last urgent push. This ebb-and-flow blueprint produces riveting creations with enough experimentation to satisfy art-rock fans and enough catchy hooks to keep more tradition-oriented listeners entertained. Shiner’s opening act, Houston, adheres to a similar formula while tweaking a few equations — it squares its drum sound and lets its spacey guitars approach infinity.