LORD HURON With the grand instrumental brushstrokes and elegant harmonies of two EPs and 2012’s debut full-length, Lonesome Dreams, this Michigan-via-L.A. band has been accused of riding the coattails of Fleet Foxes and My Morning Jacket. While there are surface similarities, Ben Schneider’s pop songs have more compelling textures than Robin Pecknold’s, and the twangy elements that Jim James left behind long ago work to ground Lord Huron’s music in a solid foundation of non-cheesy Americana, aka the more interesting Western variety. The textural touches the band taps into even roam a bit farther in places, like the afro-beat accents lurking in the backdrop of songs like “Time to Run” and “The Man Who Lives Forever,” or the tropicalia vibes in “Lullaby.” They suggest some intriguing future avenues for the band to venture down later, but for now, Lonesome Dreams, with its easy melodies, rich textures and Schneider’s narrative fondness for finding succor in the West’s wide open spaces, seems custom-built for long drives with the landscape and past rolling by.

John Schacht