With Painted, Narrows sophomore release isn't just a bunch of vets attempting a comeback, they're showing listeners why their names are already synonymous within the scene to begin with.

Gallows will arguably divide the fanbase between a hint of less grit at times and a vocalist not quite harnessing the same volatile nature as before--therefore yielding what is arguably the band's most diverse record in terms of execution.

Overall, The Vaccines have released a great album in the form of The Vaccines Come Of Age.

Though it is far from perfect and has far more filler than one would hope, North is indeed a fine effort.

Where When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes was safe at times and perhaps slightly predictable, Southern Air keeps listeners intrigued and invested throughout. This is the best pop-punk album of 2012.

Oceania lacks the emotional force that it needed to transcend what it is: a former rock star trying to sound vital again.

When the band puts their best foot forward ("Monkey Riches," "Father Time," "Applesauce," "Mercury Man," and "Pulleys,") they sound like an outfit deserving of all the hype and praise bestowed upon them.

Musically, The Circle in the Square is a bit too wobbly to stand up even amongst the rock acts channeling hip-hop a little less obviously.

The beauty of an album like Don't Let The Sun is that in between the rickety monuments to group songwriting, there is a simple and subtle message of camaraderie.

While some tracks may feel more like Bay and Ratner, Ross more often than not hits his mark.

This is necessary listening for the carefree weeks before school picks up again in the fall, and it's a record you'll end up holding near throughout the entire semester and then some.

The combination of Vigil's honest, yet relatable lyricism and the powerful instrumentation make for the band's most powerful statement to date.

When combined with crisp guitar work, meaty bass lines, and thunderous drumming, the screams fire bullets against the enemy track after track, and unlike with Attack Attack's This Means War, Memphis May Fire are winning the battle with Challenger.

It is that constant desire to create new music that makes Heaven so deeply rewarding and so worth the time.

The combination of his idiosyncratic creative mind with his highly personal and conflicted lyrics has resulted in something spectacular.

While mewithoutYou is still as ambiguous as ever with their music, they've never been as creative and daring as they are on Ten Stories.

Even if this isn't your preferred genre, there is no denying that Life Cycles is one of the most personal and genuine albums of 2012. There's nothing manufactured here.

A genre-bending, head-turning collection that vaults ZBB to the top of the roots-rock pedestal.

Make Do And Mend has released the best album of their young career and one of the essential, must-have albums of 2012.

So while the disc may not his best album, it is still one that makes you think and challenges you.

As listeners, as fans of music, we've already hit the lottery here.

Rooster Rag is a fun and inspired effort with far too many careless throwaways. The only lasting grace is that despite mountains of adversity, the Little Feat train keeps on rolling.

Marriages created a ride not worth getting off until it ends.

Their latest is yet another gem that you could spin for a room full of the most down-on-their-luck sad-sacks and get them all high-fiving.

The results are loud, punishing, totally lacking in subtlety, and at this juncture, almost completely predictable.

Heady Fwends, rather inexplicably, plays much like a proper follow-up to their 2009 mindfuck Embryonic, and their ability not only to bring a project like this together at all, but to make it work so cohesively and effectively, is as strong a testament as any to their genius.

While not every song is up to a "Moves Like Jagger" or "Payphone" standard hook-wise, the co-writers and producers never stopped breaking into new grounds for the band throughout the record.

Forging a path not quite dismissing their last batch of cuts, Architects' drive to re-assert their heavier influences makes for a back-and-forth slug match that draws on a little too long at points – yet is still memorable enough to keep you coming back for the highlights.

This record takes everything the band has done in the past and gives it to us in a rather different, yet just as captivating way.

It's ... very much worth your while. Many bands should wish that their most impressive work was as good as Motion City Soundtrack's least impressive.

Combining the huge sound of Of Men & Angels with the youthful honesty of Hello, Good Friend and Do You Feel, Avary has created his best record yet with Life Will Write These Words.

A fist-pumping, hip-swerving rock record that roars with energy and makes for a most exuberant return to form.

Vulnerable contains its share of lemons, but there is a spark, an energy, that hasn't been heard from McCracken's voice in a while.

It's punk rock for the same fans who loved Hot Water Music years ago.

Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired is just completely enthralling.

[The lyrics] carry a meaning that doesn't stop when the song does.

Twelve Years is a record that can and should become the soundtrack to many a young person's life in 2012.

As a whole, Born and Raised is contrite, earnest and warm.

Picture Show may not have as much mainstream appeal as a song like "Animals", but it definitely shows a band honed in on creating enjoyable, addicting tracks that seem fresh without losing the hint of the past this album seems thankfully unable to shake.

[Harmonicraft] finds Torche further indulging their pop muse. The result is a set of songs that retains most of the heaviness we've come to expect at this point, but with even more single-ready ear candy than ever before.

Myth seems like one of those albums that can really thrive in a post-critical world.

With a record this charming, one can only hope they last two more decades.

DSOL speaks the dirty rocker punk kvlt language that could put Pantera and Gallows fans side by side.

The fiery temperament of former releases often gives way to that aforementioned arena-sized pop sensibility, making No Gods sound bigger (and more attractive) than anything this band has written before.

If Move Along got the name in lights, it's Kids in the Street that ensures The All-American Rejects to be burning bright for years to come.

Our Home is a Deathbed is not only a vulnerable record lyrically, but also for its time and place in the current hardcore scene as well.

Anarchy, My Dear is a record that promises that anything could happen at anytime, and Bemis and company do their very best to shake up what has been expected from them as a band.

This is one of the better electro-pop albums of 2011, one that will stimulate your senses and rope you in with its instantaneous catchiness.

The musicianship and songwriting is easily on par with Magic and exceeds the output on Working On A Dream, and as a whole, Wrecking Ball stacks up considerably with The Rising, which to this day I consider a top-5 Springsteen album.

Wide-ranging, engrossing and incredibly powerful it represents a new height for a band who has hinted at towering heights before.

Come Back As Rain is a pleasant...not a surprise, but reaffirmation...that Good Old War is one of the most talented bands around at this point in time.

This is Winterpills at their finest, this is Winterpills with a direction and a clear focus.

It's not all slow and mid-tempo numbers that litter the forty-five minute duration of The Slideshow Effect. There are also moments where the band is unafraid to lift the urgency, to create a semblance of sustained momentum, and to incorporate a few timely hooks and memorable melodies along the way.

The best songs from this album are all but unforgettable, and there are a handful of tracks that will certainly survive the test of time.

Bigger, badder, and louder than ever, Ex Lives will go down as the definitive Every Time I Die record.

When all is said and done, New Multitudes is a staggering work and a crowning achievement.

The duo shows an uncanny ability to write engaging pop nuggets.

All in all, it's a solid debut effort and one that never spares on electronic dramatics and an extensive array of far-ranging ideas.

It's the bold, adventurous and grandiose album that the Top 40 charts needs right now.

This is something that has no expiration date.

Animal Joy represents a remarkable band in their prime of their career and is a stunning success on every level.

Uncompromising, gritty and intense.

Once again, they have created an album that sounds very little like their past recordings and yet still sounds exactly like The Twilight Sad.

Despite the uncommon thread of the vocalists' raspy deliveries on each track, Be The Void never really settles into any sort of discernible pattern.

Like a rare, truly-great creepshow, it's the type of harrowing ride I want to experience again and again.

While they don't throw any curveballs or stir the pot too much, the band definitely stays true to their core, crafting yet another memorable piano pop-rock record with these stories.

These Ohioans escaped the abyss and emerged with the definitive Hit The Lights album, one well worth the three-plus year wait.

Those who enjoy seeking out the layers of composition and the finest of details will no doubt appreciate and gravitate towards a record as expertly crafted as this.

Garden Window shows how a band can be just as destructive without cranking ones volumes up.

Seeker Lover Keeper is a beautiful, harmonious and captivating listen from start to finish.

This could be the record that provides that breakthrough [to mainstream].

The sincerity displayed by Green throughout just makes it very easy for any listener to be fully transfixed by Beautiful Things.

A Flash Flood of Colour is daring, thought provoking, and utterly unpredictable, making it the first bold record of 2012 and Enter Shikari's defining moment.

Employing help from not only Vernon, but also Norah Jones and Francis and the Lights among others, Voyageur is a true gem.

The Maccabees have returned as a highly evolved beast more than ready to be released into the wild world.

A multitude of outrageous pieces that form a solid whole.

A good, solid, rock album that's certainly worthy of Four Year Strong's song writing talents.

A beautifully hazy indie pop record, perfectly suited to hot summer days.

Animals as Leaders have proven that they can rise above the trends that Tosin had a hand in creating, but have not done so perfectly.

There's much to like about Office of Future Plans, though I suspect its appeal beyond being a throwback to the golden age of angst-ridden but pop-sensible rock music may be rather limited.

Getting Paid is nothing but a precise groove of excellence.

It should be viewed as a major step-up from Reach For The Sun.

Hollandaze is a compelling enough release on feel alone, an album that smartly incorporates a subtle sense of tension, preventing its gauzy textures from devolving into directionless bliss-outs.

While Sea Lions blow through fifteen songs in less than a half-hour, it's startling how nice they all sound as they fly by, and even more so how little remains in memory even a few seconds after the last sweetly chiming note fades into silence.

It does have sort of a Swiss Army Knife Effect: Use what you want only when you need it.

This album is a great start for anyone who leans on the more accessible sides of ambient/indie music.

As one of the last big album releases to close out 2011, it's highly fitting that Ceremonials should be considered perhaps the most beautiful and absorbing of them all.

During the 30 odd minutes of Avalanche United, you hear a revitalized band that's eager to take over the country and at the top of their game.

Despite lacking value in the originality department, though, This Time Next Year has manufactured an album that listeners will be happy to jump around their living rooms to for a while to come.

Much of My Brother's Ears/My Sister's Eyes does tend to bleed together for the most part, but it's a wonderful blend of an experience at that.

Aside from that rather flat conclusion, Nightlife is a solid offering from a unique act who possess a sound all their own, who seem unafraid of exploring all aspects of that sound.

Out of Love is old-timey, fun (yet dark), and deep enough to merit sinking your teeth into it a bit.

Parallax is one of the best albums I've had the pleasure of hearing all year.

Overall, the EP works wonders, given largely to the fact that it contains unreleased tracks from sessions of the band's greatest, most straightforward work to date.

Spills Out is a satisfying album that puts a unique spin on otherwise trite indie-pop touchstones and a marriage of dissonance and charm seamless enough that, at times, it's almost difficult to tell one from the other.

The honesty behind Hello Sadness is remarkable and incredibly appealing.

The full blown cathartic experience that many savor through a live set sometimes mishits on the album, but not so much to be trash-bin worthy.

Take Care does a beautiful job of giving Drake the best group of features that complement his style while rarely outshining him.