On their first compilation, Rock Beats Paper, the New Orleans Indie Rock Collective showed that there was more bounding around the streets of the Crescent City than the sounds of brass and funk. This time around, the organization reaches further into the burgeoning Big Easy indie scene to uncover the bands that are steadily shaking up its musical landscape. Like its predecessor, Robots Are Mean features two songs from each of the acts showcased at the NOIRC’s most recent festival. While appreciably less vibrant than Rock, Robots are Mean is assuredly more brazen, giving it an edgier, less refined subtext.

The brainy, punctilious power pop of Glasgow, with its sweeping violin, saw-toothed guitar and rock-steady rhythms bookends the disc and makes for the album’s most accessible tunes. The Happy Talk Band’s Luke Allen—Robots’ most obstinate and incisive lyricist—crows, “If I were to end my life / an officer would read my rights,” over the ragged alt-country of “Legalize Suicide.” Later, on “Giant,” he rails, “There’s a devil inside of me I cannot name.” Micah McKee’s deft wit and billowing baritone elevates Silent Cinema’s earthen cadence and gives the band’s dark textures a lively timbre. While the frenetic cacophony of madcap rockers Big Rock Candy Mountain and the unabashed, psychedelic punk of New Orleans transplants the Pharmacy fill the far reaches Robots’ clamorous dystopia, it’s the cataclysmic new-wave eruptions of the Public and the sonic bombardment of noise-rock duo Caddywhompus that penetrates its core. As for the roiling folk-punk of turbulent traditionalists the Zydepunks, their swashbuckling sea shanty “When My Ship Sails Away” stands toe-to-toe with the best of any barefooted gypsy band. Do yourself a favor and download Robots Are Mean for free from NewOrleansIndieRock.com.