When the chemistry kicks in and a humble indie rock band finds itself with that magical convergence of literate, lyrical inspiration, mad skills, and actual melodies, then watch out. Yawns, begone. Boom. Run for cover. The cover on San Francisco fivesome 20 Minute Loop's superfine Yawn + House = Explosion is the final cut, Hüsker Dü's stalker ode "I'll Never Forget You," here with a horn section that sounds like a fantasy '80s TV cop show theme, breaking with the stirring songcraft, Pixies-ish patterns, and intertwined boy-girl vocals, and undermining the epic "statement" expected at the close of a quasi-concept album. Judging from the songs and the childlike scrawl of the album notes, Yawn seems to be a journey into the dream life of a middle-school girl, accompanied by loopy, evocative guitar work, high-drama dynamics, and Kelly Atkins and Greg Giles's plain yet emotional harmonies. Imagine Kim Deal duetting with John Doe and your hunker-down into adolescence and '90s alt-rock nostalgia is complete. All of which might be enough to keep you warm in most cases, but 20 Mile Loop go further with an infectious urgency redolent of childhood, as well as a will to tell stories and an urge to dip into vivid characters via tracks such as "Properties of Dirt" and "Ambassadors." The latter references collegiate Henry James, but dash it all if it isn't the most heart-in-your-throat reading of the quintessential American abroad's masterpiece ever committed to song. A star of The Heiress, the movie version of James's Washington Square, even gets the hard rock treatment on "Miriam Hopkins." And though the album slightly loses steam with "Book of J" – strung up on Harold Bloom's anxiety of influence? – 20 Mile Loop are forgiven. English majors haven't sounded this enticing in years. 20 Minute Loop play Sat/8, Bottom of the Hill, S.F. (415) 621-4455. (Kimberly Chun)

Built like Alaska
Autumnland (Future Farmer/Sweat of the Alps)

Some rather strange things, it seems, make Built like Alaska's Neil Jackson feel all fuzzy inside. Of Autumnland, his Oakdale quintet's superb second album, the singer and guitarist has said he wants to evoke the "comforting feelings [that] a person hopes they never lose." But with titles like "Ran into a Coroner" and "Train Wreck," his narratives don't conjure anything even remotely heartwarming. Rather, Jackson – whose woozy, swoon-worthy vocals most closely recall those of the late Elliott Smith – sings of severed hands and bloodied rivers while pondering unsettling questions like "Does your mother feel sick when your daddy's around?" Clearly, the album ain't your typical, comforting walk down memory lane. That doesn't mean Autumnland isn't inviting, however. Best experienced through the intimacy of headphones, the album's soothing, orchestral rock envelopes listeners in warm, cozy waves of keyboards and guitars that belie Jackson's often creepy imagery. And though the songs bleed into one another with an impressive ease, they're never relegated to background music, thanks to their solid hooks. "Random Car" and "Almost the Earth" are infectious, lite-pop perfection, while "Controlled Climate" and "Dirty Mouth" – a gem originally heard on the band's Pamphlets and Films CD-R – would have fit snugly on Smith's XO. In other words, after years as one of the Central Valley's best-kept secrets, Built like Alaska finally sound built to accommodate larger audiences. Built like Alaska play Sat/8, Independent, S.F. (415) 771-1421. (Jimmy Draper)

Roy Tyler and New Directions
Three Way Calling (Severn)

"The Warning," which opens Oakland gospel singer Roy Tyler's latest release, Three Way Calling, kicks off with a stop-time instrumental riff reminiscent of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom." Later in the disc, the former Gospel Hummingbirds leader's first with New Directions, Tyler cries, "It's in me and it's gotta come out," paraphrasing a line from Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." "How you gonna get it out?" the men of New Directions ask in high harmony. "Shout it out," Tyler answers as the musicians, led by Robert Cray Band organist Jim Pugh, play a rousing 2/4 rhythm. Tyler doesn't gratuitously append blues elements to the material, nor does he dilute its Christian messages. Gospel and blues are close cousins, and the music Tyler presents here is little different from what he performed at small Oakland churches in the early '80s, when future R&B star Raphael Saadiq was the Gospel Hummingbirds' teenage bassist. Saadiq produced two of the tracks on Three Way Calling and duets vocally with Tyler on one, as does Blind Boys of Alabama leader Clarence Fountain on 1 of the 11 numbers produced by Pugh. Tyler has limited range, but he hits a home run nearly every time with the rhythmic subtlety and deep sincerity of his delivery. Roy Tyler and New Directions play Sat/8, Biscuits and Blues, S.F. (415) 292-2583. (Lee Hildebrand)

Mail stuff for review to Sarah Han, Bay Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., S.F. CA 94107.