Folk-grunge rockers Heatmiser are best known for their singer/guitarist, Elliott Smith—and it was with them that Smith’s songwriting really took shape. Released as the band was in the process of splitting up, Mic City Sons not only captures that formative moment, but also a style of alt-rock that spent the early ’90s moving from the underground to the mainstream. Particularly great are “Pop in G” and “See You Later,” whose blend of quiet angst and Beatlesesque hooks play like sun breaking through the gray of Smith’s Pacific Northwest skies.