Kevin Bronson on March 18th, 2013

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Nightmare Air’s long-in-the-works debut “High in the Lasers” is the sound of three people at the volume of 3,000 – blissful layers of guitar, bass and drums that isn’t so much shoegaze as it is sonic neurosis. It’s the brainchild of guitarist and pedal geek Dave Dupuis, who played in Film School and paid some bills manning the soundboard for the likes of the Duke Spirit, Jenny Lewis and Silversun Pickups. Indeed, some of “High in the Lasers” (out on Tuesday via Saint Marie Records) sounds like the Pickups at their most furious, getting Tasered. But not only does the album’s melodic sense keep it from devolving into just plain noise, it’s pretty too, owing to reverb-laden vocals of bassist Swaan Miller. A heavy-metal bottom end courtesy of drummer Jimmy Lucido adds the requisite element of danger. In the new video for “Icy Dagger,” SSPU’s Brian Aubert, the Duke Spirit’s Marc Sallis and Piebald’s Travis Shettel (see also: TS & the Past Haunts) make cameos. It’s a storyline any woman who dates a rock musician will understand … and for a horrible moment there, we thought that vintage Ford Mustang was going to end up the victim.

||| Also: After the jump, check out the original version of “Escape” (then titled “Can Not Escape”) from when we premiered the track last April: