Screw Detroit-Chicago is the place to be if you’re an indie music lover. Now File Thirteen Records has thrown its hat into the hype ring with the self-titled offering from Sterling, and the fit is formidable. Sterling’s style sticks faithfully to the angular post-rock path taken by Godspeed You Black Emperor! (without the pious bombast) or Mogwai (without the distortion)-sometimes with, strangely enough, a little pre-synth Mermen thrown into the mix-making for potent night’s worth of math-rock introspection. The piano evens out the addictive guitar nuances on some tracks, but Sterling’s strong suit is its determined hypnotic progressions: they simply float like butterflies and sting like bees. A solid, emotional entry into a sometimes alienating genre. Grab this shit and spin it.