Kevin Bronson on August 22nd, 2018

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Back in 2012, art-punk agitators Bikos urged everybody “Let Down Your Avant Garde” (the title of their second record). They haven’t, thankfully. Three and a half years removed from their last album, a self-titled affair, the never-boring quintet — singer-guitarist Gabriel Pearlman, singer-percussionist Miki Burton, bassist Dave Jones, guitarist Daniel Hur and drummer Austin Wester — last week released their fourth full-length, “Herein: Time’s Own Wyoming.” We have no idea what it means, either, and that’s part of the fun with Bikos.

Pearlman’s speak- and shout-singing cover a range of topics, and neuroses, over a kinda-genius claptrap of time signature-shifting instrumentation that might be too jazzy for its own good if not for its impish spirit. It’s not really the style that counts with Bikos, anyway, it’s the challenge. Bikos are kind of a B-52’s for people who wear lab coats and never leave home. There’s a groove here and there, a hook, seemingly improvisational musings, a occasional tasty excursion into rock ’n’ roll, and marvelous scribbles that end up hinting at a fuller picture. “Hear Theory” and “Who Izz Is” were the first singles, but see the album tracks “Brew the Coffee, Jam the Toast” and “A Classic Zoom-Out.” Stay weird.

||| Stream: “Hear Theory” and “Who Izz Is”

||| Also: Stream “A Classic Zoom-Out” or the entire album on Bandcamp

||| Live: Bikos celebrate their album release with a show Sunday at Café NELA, joined by the World Record, Doctors & Engineers, and Black Heartthrobs.