Submitted photo"Escape Was Narrow," Wilderness

Bend’s own Wilderness takes a musical leap or two forward on its sophomore album “Escape Was Narrow.”

Just two years ago, Wilderness frontman Jared Nelson Smith opened his band’s first album “Homeward From the Battle” solo, with the gentle acoustic strumming and introspective singing of “On My Own.” It was a fitting introduction at the time, easing the listener into the esoteric musical experiments and lengthy noise freak outs that have become Wilderness’ stock-in-trade.

No such introduction on “Escape Was Narrow.” Opening track “Afterlife Crisis” immediately introduces the listener to a more confident and powerful Wilderness, offering a compendium of nearly every sound the band has experimented with up to this point — lilting, jazzy melodies; harried fuzz guitar; sprawling instrumental duels.

From here, the musical vocabulary expands outward on the 10 tracks, incorporating Fugazi-esque rhythmic gymnastics (“Baby Blues”), surf-tinged balladry (“Sand,” “The Right Time is Right”) and anthemic, fist-pumping folk rock (majestic album closer “Join the Chase”).

The band certainly has a strong batch of songs here, but its the inter-band chemistry and sonic evolution that impresses most, from the bouncing organ textures Nora K.W. Smith floats just above the taught rhythms of “What Would Happen If I Never Did,” to the armies of guitar Jared Smith conjures on nearly every track. It’s the sound of a band coming into its own — and it leaves open a number of paths for the four-piece to pursue on future recordings.

Wilderness album release party (yes, there will be vinyl), with Thick Business ; 9 p.m. Sept. 4; $5; Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend; www.volcanictheatrepub.com or 541-323-1881.

— Brian McElhiney