'Spooky Action' brilliantly distant

Standing next to Bradford Cox, the flamboyant and eccentric frontman of ambient punk group Deerhunter, at every show is a guy who could not look more like his opposite. Guitarist Lockett Pundt, who records solo material under the moniker Lotus Plaza, dresses more like a stagehand than a rock star and may have never once cracked a facial expression when performing.

On his latest album, “Spooky Action at a Distance,” Pundt embraces his modest and pensive element, and in doing so, he reveals exactly how much more he brings to Deerhunter’s table than most think.

Through 10 tracks of thoughtful, atmospheric pop melodies, “Spooky Action” captures and harnesses a state of wanderlust for 44 minutes — not as a means for Pundt’s indulgence, but for his therapy.

“No one will recognize us undercover,” he sings on “Dusty Rhodes,” longing for escapism, before repeatedly reassuring himself “one of these days, I’ll come around” at the end of “Monoliths” in a moment that’s the closest the record ever gets to cathartic.

Unsurprisingly, then, “Spooky Action” is an ideal record to listen to while getting lost, whether via unknown roads or sidewalk blocks.