Birds & Batteries bandleader Mike Sempert moved to San Francisco a couple of years ago with a batch of home recordings (2005's Nature vs. Nature) crackling with Neil Young swooning and warm electronics. Since then, he's built his bedroom project into a rock quintet, releasing a studio album (2007's I'll Never Sleep Again), and paying dues with a relentless touring schedule. Though Sempert's cracked-glass ballads are getting the full-band treatment now, they retain the woozy undertow of synths and pedal steel that has become the Birds & Batteries trademark.