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Institute: Ragdoll Dance 12” (Roach Leg Records) Over four albums and several EPs, Institute has firmly established themselves as one of underground punk’s preeminent bands. Each record is a joy when it comes out, and their entire discography remains in constant rotation for me… they’re a band I can always listen to, and that I never seem to tire of. After a run of strong records on Sacred Bones, Institute has moved to Roach Leg Records (in the US) and La Vida Es Un Mus (in Europe) for their new album, and they sound artistically reinvigorated on Ragdoll Dance. While the last couple of records on Sacred Bones—Subordination in particular—seemed to lean into the more straightforward, almost hardcore elements of their sound, Ragdoll Dance sounds to me more open-ended, almost playful. If you like Institute singer Moses Brown’s solo project as Peace de Résistance, you’ll love Ragdoll Dance, as that project’s take on high-minded yet gritty art-pop bleeds into Institute’s sound here, particularly on the track “Wonder,” whose dark, chiming guitars bring to mind Siouxsie and the Banshees at the height of their creativity. That being said, “Plateau of Self” and “Uncle Sam’s Hate” are straightforward, go-for-the-throat rockers that keep Ragdoll Dance in the record store’s punk section. Raw and real production and performance, great songs, ambitious aesthetics… Ragdoll Dance has it all.