This “new” Iran track isn’t new — it’s been floating around since the summer of ’05 — but it’s good to see Aaron Aites finally officially followup his excellent second album, 2002′s The Moon Boys. In May, I wrote about three new tracks streaming at the band’s MySpace, but then came silence, so it seemed like another long winter. Which was recently replaced by a press release. Yes, Kyp Malone’s a member of Iran, as is guitarist Aaron Romanello, but it’s sad the label’s marketing Iran’s third album Dissolver with a “Before TV on the Radio there was Iran…” slogan (ugh). As mentioned in May, Iran is primarily the brainchild of Aites, no matter how you twist it. While we’re talking TVOTR, though, for Dissolver Aites upped his noisy 4-track production values with the help of Dave Sitek. See, for instance, lead track “Buddy,” Aites crashing a high-school sock hop with ringing guitar, organ drone, piano, a full-kit drum, and Malone’s backing vocals. It’s shiny.

• Iran – “Buddy”Download

An interesting twist occurs when Aites follows the late-period realizations (“I know what you thought / And it’s so hard to make it this far / And I’m sure I could help you a lot”) with a qualifying “but Buddy,” the idea that he’s dying, and then a smart-ass “I’m just fucking with you.” It unravels everything that came before it. Cleaner sound, yes, but just as complicated emotionally.

The Buddy EP also (fittingly) includes a cover of John Lennon’s “Isolation” and “Airport 77,” which is described as “a prelude to” Dissolver‘s “Airport 79.”

Buddy EP is out 11/4 and Dissolver is out 2/3/09 both via Narnack. Also, Aites and Audrey Ewell recently completed their Norwegian black metal documentary, Until The Light Takes Us. Catch it in L.A. on Halloween.