Weatherbox

Brian Warren, the sole permanent member of San Diego art-rock troupe Weatherbox, is a bit on the unusual side. His first full-length, 2007's American Art, largely revolved around his (somewhat tumultuous) time as a touring guitarist for the emo band My American Heart. On his new album, The Cosmic Drama, Warren mellows out more, channeling plenty of Modest Mouse and Animal Collective to augment the band's Cursive-esque post-hardcore. It sounds odd — and it is – but yet somehow it works. The real challenge of being a Weatherbox fan is trying to keep track of who is in the band at any given moment; over a half-dozen members have cruised through the lineup in the past two years. But with Warren as its constant, Weatherbox continues to explore its own brave new world.