Espantapajaros

Following the Star has been a long time coming — the five-song EP is Pablo Espantapajaros's eponymous band's first release since the guitarist extraordinaire relocated to the Bayou City from his native Argentina in 2006. In the interim, Espantapajaros and mates Diego Fernandez, Erol Kuscu and Antonio Gonzalez have become one of Houston's best rock bands in English or Spanish, collecting three consecutive Houston Press Music Award nominations for Best Latin Contemporary. Despite its brief running time, Star makes room for a few surprises — for a band that picks up comparisons to classic rockers like the Rolling Stones, Santana and the Black Crowes (who do pop up, big time, on the über-mellow "Lo Que Ves" and "Ruedan") like pocket lint, the recorded version of "Psicotropico" comes out much closer to Matthew Sweet's buzzy early-'90s alt-pop. Which is not a bad thing at all. Besides releasing the EP Saturday, Espantapajaros will premiere the video for choppy Star garage rocker "Where Do You Go."