In their relatively brief time as a band, Nigel Dennis, Mike Brown and Todd Miller--collectively known as A Lull--impressively have shared the stage with national touring acts such as Yeasayer, Appleseed Cast and Cursive. There are echoes of all of those groups in the Chicago trio's music, as well as hints of Animal Collective, but more in the way it approaches creating catchy, buoyant pop out of sometimes skewed or experimental ingredients, including dark electronic ambience and sputtering synthesized percussion.

The group has so far released an impressive four-song EP, "Ice Cream Bones," currently streaming on the Web at www.myspace.com/alullmusic, and it's working to complete a full-length debut entitled "Confetti." And it's kicking off an ambitious tour that stretches from Texas to Boston with a gig at the Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake, at 8 p.m. on Thursday [July 16].