NE-HI, Empty Eyes, Local Pavlov

One of the songs on NE-HI’s eponymous 2014 debut album is called “Haunted Summer,” and that title could just as easily function as a genre descriptor of the Chicago quartet’s jangly, occasionally blistering brand of rock. NE-HI’s sophomore LP, the recently released Offers, is a half-hour of hooky, insistent, slightly shaggy pop songs, with frontmen Jason Balla and Mikey Wells trading back-and-forth lead vocals and surf-y guitar lines that slice right through the sunny but occasionally melancholy melodies. NE-HI just played a well-received set at SXSW, so catch them at the Bartlett on Friday night before they blow up.