Chicago tri-guitar quintet the Atlas Moth, one of the first bands I covered in Haunting The Chapel, are back. It isn’t exactly time for a proper full-length followup to last year’s gorgeously anthemic, psychedelic lighter-lifter A Glorified Piece Of Blue Sky, but they are releasing a digital-only covers EP The One Amongst The Weed Fields, a play on A Glorified’s “One Amongst The Wheat Fields.” (“Weed” being the operative word here.) The collection includes signature takes on the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’,” Pink Floyd’s “Fearless,” the Doors’ “Five To One,” and “Golden” by ’90s L.A. alt-rock band Failure. (The band that housed production honcho Ken Andrews and Autolux’s Greg Edwards long before Autolux.) Frontman (and the Twilight member with the bast facial hair) Stavros explains the idea behind the collection:

Thirteen-hour drives with only a radio to entertain you eventually takes a toll. But every once in a while we’d hear a song pop up that would strike us as something we all wanted to make into a ‘Moth song. These are the few we came up with from a terribly long list … It was a great way to have some fun, produce something new, and do a little pre-production for our new album which we hope to record later this year.

You’ll should pick up a mighty big reference from the album art collage, too. Here’s “Golden,” the best cover of the lot:

The Atlas Moth – “Golden” (Failure Cover)

The One Amongst the Weed Fields is out 9/28 as a download via Candlelight. The band will have a limited number of download cards for purchase during their upcoming tour with Nachtmystium, Zoroaster, and Dark Castle. (Full disclosure: HTC is happily sponsoring said tour.) The dates:

09/09 – Dekalb, IL @ Otto’s Nightclub
09/10 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
09/11 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
09/12 – Montreal, QB @ La Sala Rose
09/13 – Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
09/15 – New York, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall
09/16 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Underground
09/17 – Providence, RI @ Club Hell
09/18 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott
09/19 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory
09/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
09/22 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
09/23 – Richmond, VA @ Hat Factory
09/25 – Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
09/26 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
09/27 – Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Café
09/28 – St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
09/29 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
10/01 – Toledo, OH @ Mickey’s Finn Pub
10/02 – Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club