Silo Halo is hardly the only active D.C. band that can trace its sound directly to the darker side of ’90s indie rock—-Lorelei and Cigarette immediately come to mind—-and like those contemporaries, the trio is adept at creating a lonesome rumble. The four songs on Blackout Transmission, Silo Halo’s second release on Etxe Records, all expand past the five-minute mark, and they’re all studies in the interplay between warehouse-sized reverb, Nathan Jurgenson‘s ever-active drumming, and dryly melodic human utterances from bassists/guitarists Greg Svitil and Christopher Goett (the label’s co-owner). Anybody who heard Night and the City, the band’s 2012 debut album, will notice that vocalist/guitarist Christin Durham has moved on, and the lack of a female voice on the new EP definitely changes the dynamic. Very little on Blackout Transmission is delicate, but there is vulnerability underneath it all. Even the sudden percussive breakdown during the title track feels like it’s probing an uncertain future: