The quieter spots on You're Better Than This, the new full-length from New England rock institution Pile, are crucial. The first half of "Mr. Fish" sounds like a country song, then it explodes. On closer "Appendicitis," frontman Rick Maguire drawls Now I wait as patiently as I can for my heart to ache again over slow, steady guitar chugs; the end of the song is messy, loud, and rhythmically intense. The tension between those softer, sadder moments and the abrasive ones feels vital, like you can't have a full-blown catharsis without spelling out what hurts in the first place. There's also something amazing about a noise-punk band releasing a nimbly plucked acoustic instrumental called "Fuck The Police."

Maguire, whose screwy storytelling is so good that it inspires other Boston bands to write concept albums, says making You're Better Than This was actually kind of a daunting ordeal. "I didn't really know what I was doing," he told FADER in an email. "Flying blindly a bit. I think it ended up working out alright, though." We think so, too. The album officially drops next week via Exploding In Sound, but you can stream the whole thing exclusively right here.