Jonathan Suarez is hatching a plan and losing his brain. At least, that’s what he sings on “Hatching,” the first song on Suarez’s indie rock band Baby Grendel’s new EP, Hatch(l)ing, a short collection of quirky tunes that marks Baby Grendel’s emergence as a five-piece after starting as a Suarez bedroom project. Baby Grendel comes to Eugene on their first West Coast tour June 29 at John Henry’s. On the transition from more or less a solo artist to the leader of a band, Suarez tells Eugene Weekly, “I had to make my schedule outside of music mean almost nothing so that I could meet up with these four other people whenever they could meet” — a slacker lo-fi dilemma suiting Grendel’s shaggy sound. On the EP, “Hatching” bounces along on a squelchy, Pavement-like guitar riff, and elsewhere, the quirky, mellower “Morning Prayer” recalls Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle’s inscrutable religious forays. The work is strongest when showcasing Suarez and keyboardist Colleen Johnson singing in unison, stripped back and bare. On the EP, Suarez says, “I was able to do things that I hadn’t heard before, and that’s always been the goal.” But, he adds, “even though it’s loose, I’m very particular about how it’s put together.” Also on “Hatching,” Suarez sings, “I’m psycho, knew it all along.” With Hatch(l)ing, the world now knows that, too.

Baby Grendel plays with Springfield punk band No Place Or Time and Corvallis’ y’allternative rockers Jay & Hex 9 pm, Sunday, June 29, at John Henry’s, 881 Willamette Street. Tickets are $8, and the show is 21-plus.