Fourth of July

One of the flagship bands on Range Life Records, Fourth of July shares its rural-indie aesthetic with the Pavement tune that shares its label’s name. The band’s latest single, “In Debt,” opens with a line that’s pure Malkmusian deadpan (I’m in debt like my country/But she still believes in me), and that’s just an overture for three minutes of clever wordplay, endearingly erratic vocals and jangly hooks. “Not a City,” another great unreleased track, recalls early Violent Femmes, albeit with robust rhythm-section implants and a reduction in vocal whine. Such songs posit Fourth of July’s 2007 full-length as one of the area’s most intriguing impending releases.