Alaska! knows honesty ain't easy. It's true of love, and maybe more so of art. Writing an honest pop song, giving both your musical influences and your individuality the space they need, is a high-wire act spanning the twin abysses of the blandly derivative and the utterly inaccessible. Happily, Rescue Through Tomahawk goes the distance with grace and aplomb -- but maybe that's to be expected, as Alaska! is an indie-rock supergroup of sorts, featuring the talents of Imaad Wasif (lowercase), Russ Pollard (Sebadoh) and Lesley Ishino (Red Aunts). Wasif's vocals may be reminiscent of Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch, and his fretwork call to mind that of Bob Mould, but his music remains stubbornly his own. Standouts include "Through the Years" and "Krystal Korpse" -- raw, moody rockers in which Wasif's subtle melodicism is thrown into sharp relief. The musicianship here is beyond reproach, and if Alaska! occasionally veers toward navel-gazing noise jam territory, it's a forgivable sin -- especially in the face of the restraint and purposefulness with which the rest of the album is approached.