Cheer-Accident

In its lesser moments, Chicago’s Cheer-Accident seemed to enjoy sabotaging its own hooks, essentially acting as a formidable musical tease. On What Sequel? the band adjusts that vision and makes an easy candidate for local pop record of the year. Gone are those obvious (and funny) Dada jokes and sludgy experimentation; in their place are enigmatic wordplay and pinpoint pop songwriting. Key here is multi-instrumentalist and singer Thymme Jones, who inhabits the maverick spirit of British prog genius Robert Wyatt to a tee (both are also singer-drummers). But the songwriting is wound tighter, too: Tracks like “You Know, You Know” feel like someone grafted Burt Bacharach onto early Genesis. It’s a pleasant surprise: Inside even the most oblong song structures, great melodies can still soar.—Matthew Lurie

Cheer-Accident plays Abbey Pub Thursday 7.