Miracles of Modern Science are an unlikely rock band. Using just mandolin, violin, cello, standup bass, and drums, they create explosive pop that upends notions of what these instruments can do.

The band began life at Princeton University. Vocalist/bassist Evan Younger and mandolinist Josh Hirshfeld shared a hall their freshman year and soon began hijacking open mics with their off-kilter acoustic collaborations. They found kindred spirits in other restless musicians from the school’s orchestras and jazz bands: conductor-by-day cellist Geoff McDonald, Aussie violinist Kieran Ledwidge, and finally powerhouse drummer Tyler Pines, who spurred them to plug their miniature orchestra into amps. The band built a cult following on campus and graduated to New York City, where their ecstatic live shows and dorm-grown EP earned them nods from NPR, SPIN, Wired, andBrooklyn Vegan.

MOMS’ debut album Dog Year finds the band pushing the limits of their antique instruments and throwing aside conventions as readily as their genre-bending idols, Bowie and Bartok. You’ll hear unhinged baritone vocals anchored by a looming upright bass, mandolin riffs that share more DNA with post-rock than bluegrass, and a two-man “string section” shredding as ferociously as the rock drummer behind them. The result is as daring as it is infectious.