The title of this AMM post is a nice and nerdy double reference. On the one hand, ye olde Austin Music Minute host was thinking of the narrator from a pulp novel series (and eventually radio drama) back in the day, all mysterious and sinister, cloaked in darkness. But The Shadow also happens to be the latest LP by Seattle-based trio Naked Giants. Holy hell, what a badass follow-up to 2018’s awesome garage/punk/pop roller coaster ear feast SLUFF.

The Shadow unleashes killer fuzz and lightning riffs that feels like something out of early-Sub Pop…and beyond. Today’s AMM-featured track “Take A Chance” is damn well ’70s-ish rock anthemic but with funky adrenaline-pumping drums. Then that’s followed by the darkened ’80s-pop video fog “Turns Blue,” only to have the train track switch on a dime yet again with the rock amplified “(God Damn!) What I Am,” then drift into the hazy twang-opened harmonied slide of “The Ripper.” This kind of genre-jumping is magic when executed like this.

Naked Giants are on the line-up in Grounded!, a livestream series hosted by Seattle-based nonprofit record label Big BLDG, which includes The Grizzled Mighty and the Marina Albero Trio, featuring Serena. The livestream starts at 9 p.m. Central tonight, Thursday September 3, on Facebook Live.