POST-ROCK | Pray for Sound 

Post-rock, with all its grandiose trappings and sonic maximalism, can actually be a remarkably succinct listening experience. By focusing solely on instrumentation and atmosphere, free from the burden of traditional vocals and lyricism, the best post-rock bands can, in a single song, cut right to the emotional core of any given topic. Boston's Pray for Sound has been a living testament to this idea since 2014, and its latest record, this year's "Everything is Beautiful," is its most diverse and enthralling. On songs like "Once One Begins, There Are Only Endings" and "I Have Seen Hell and It's White," the band's guitars ebb and flow in spectacular mid-paced intensity, calling to mind early This Will Destroy You and Do Make Say Think, while "They Gave Up Looking" is probably the closest a post-rock song can come to earning the title "barn burner." Don't just say it — show it. Or, in this case, play it.

Pray for Sound will play with There I Say Is Lighting and Memphis Green on Sunday, December 18, at the Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Avenue. 8 p.m. $7-$9. bugjar.com; prayforsound.com.