Mr. Gnome

“Pirates” by Mr. Gnome, from Deliver This Creature (El Marko Records):

The Cleveland duo of singer-guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer-pianist Sam Meister may call itself Mr. Gnome, but Mr. Goliath would’ve been a more apt name. As full-length debut Deliver This Creature demonstrates, the group specializes in a mighty breed of coliseum-sized, metal-rimmed art rock. Breathy interludes full of acoustic guitar and piano succumb to titanic, stop-start riff barrages, prog sinkholes and more — sometimes all in the space of one rampaging song. Somehow, they’re able to make their compositional chaos appear totally intuitive: a perfect, histrionic storm. — Ray Cummings