In a past Three Stars interview, DCist Music Editor Amanda Mattos called D.C./Brooklyn quartet Deleted Scenes “not a great local band, but a great band in general.” Listening to their debut LP, Birdseed Shirt, it’s difficult to challenge that assessment. Named after an invention dreamed up by Jonathan Safran Foer’s protagonist in the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Birdseed Shirt is brimming with ideas — much like Foer’s book — and clearly the work of artists destined to exist outside of the “local” category.

It’s an understatement to call the album, which was produced by Rude Staircase‘s L. Skell and local music icon J. Robbins, an ambitious debut. Not content with retreading worn indie rock conventions, Deleted Scenes mixes up genres and styles on practically every song, from the bluesy swagger of opener “Turn to Sand” to the playful “Ithaca” — which answers the question “If Peter Gabriel jammed with Sunny Day Real Estate, what would it sound like?” (Answer: Awesome.)