Tatanka

With Cloudless Thunder, the members of Tatanka show how much they’ve grown as a band since 2011’s John Dunbar. The intro track, “Border Run,” is a perfect example of how the act has gotten tighter as a unit since the last record, swinging with a dancehall bass line and playful keys without straying too far from its dub foundation. The stylistic outlier, meanwhile, is the single released last summer, “Shredder,” a saw-bass-ripping, organic dubstep-rap-fusion featuring rhymes from Turner Jackson. There’s a moment in the second verse when Jackson sounds like he’s channeling Wiz Khalifa rapping over a Roots cover of a SBTRKT song. The single was not a harbinger of total change, though, just a jolt of experimentation. It’s the title track that best illustrates how electronic-music influences might continue to evolve and refine the group’s sound.