1. School of Seven Bells, featuring one former member of The Secret Machines, feels culled out of 1991 on “My Cabal” – particularly with its drum machine beat and the sweet vocal harmonies.

1. We love how much Crocodiles sounds like vintage Jesus and Mary Chain. It’s like they borrowed all the old gear used to record “Head On” and decided to go all JAMC for “I Wanna Kill.”

3. It’s always interesting to listen to a new song by Deerhunter, easily the biggest band on this mixtape. Because you never know what you’ll get. Pop, noise, haze, dust, brood? They’re all possible. “Rainwater Cassette Exchange” is all haze, closer in feel to Bradford Cox’s work with solo project Atlas Sound.

4. What the heck is a Nick Drake acolyte doing on Ninja Tune, a label known for its DJs and electronic musicians? We don’t know, but we know that Fink’s “Sort of Revolution” is a calm killer – coming off like a more soulful Mark Kozelek.

5. Japandroids, much like Wavves and No Age and all those other noisy acts, manages to hide some pretty killer hooks under all those layers of distortion. “The Boys Are Leaving Town” will be stuck in your head. Trust us.