Less bombastic than his full-time act but equally hallucinogenic, Atlas Sound finds Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox still doing what he’s best at: being creepy. Here, Cox takes New Age instruments—harps, bells, mbiras—and reinvents their purpose. Instead of a calm wave of meditative bliss, the result is ornate-yet-inauspicious dream-pop, with Cox using his unsettling falsetto to float cryptic lyrics over a placid sheen of treated vibraphones. That’s not to say that you couldn’t pump the record over a PA in a health food store—Atlas Sound’s self-titled debut has no shortage of soothing tones. But somewhere behind all of that ear pudding, Cox is singing about drowning, holes in his head, and “bite marks on your back”—which should be sufficient to give just about anybody the heebie-jeebies. Atlas Sound performs with White Rainbow and Valet at 9 p.m. at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. $10. (202) 667-7960.