INTO THE WOODS

We can't explain it, but by the time fall rolls around, we're ready to switch up our music. The garage-pop, low-fi jams that defined our summer just don't sound quite the same on those days when it gets dark around 4 p.m.

So maybe it's a sign that the self-titled EP of Washington rockers The Lonely Forest landed on our desk on the chilliest day of the season so far. The band makes guitar-heavy alt-rock ballads with all the intensity of, say, REM or Band of Horses, but without the mopey feeling you're left with afterward.

And if their earnest tracks like "I Don't Want to Live There" and "Let It Go" sound familiar, it's probably because their album was produced by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla (he also signed the group to his record label).

So ahead and listen up- you may just find your new fall band.

Hear The Lonely Forest on MySpace.