MGMT is truly the sound of two artists in the studio with the goal to entertain no one but themselves.

This is The Get Up Kids years later folks. The familiar nuances have been rearranged and built into something stronger, but the attitude and depth is all the same, if not more adhesive and much more endearing than before.

Go With Me certainly isn't a bad record by any means, but it just doesn't have the originality and lasting value that will keep people coming back for repeat listens.

Some will deplore the record for its relative lack of pop appeal, but for a massively popular band that has so often been derailed by its own lofty ambitions, there is a huge pleasure in hearing something that succeeds on such a small, modest, and humanized scale.

They create sophisticated and charming indie/pop songs that occasionally have moments of calamity and moodiness. Their hooks are compelling, their lyrics often thoughtful, and because they explore the topic of love and heartache, they're bound to resonate with many who give the intimate, Love Notes / Letter Bombs thirty minutes of their time.

If I lived completely under a rock, I'd say Screamworks, and HIM in general, would hit Twilight tweeners straight in the heart with its dark, dismal and dire themes, but the more mature crowd would see the excessive sentimentality as almost self-parodying.

Timez Are Weird These Days is the perfect example of what London is capable of, snatching elements of popular music from across the decades to create a sound that's both nostalgic and refreshing.

The regression in complexity seems to underscore the band's endorsement of arrested development as the secret to eternal youth. Their perpetual glee suggests that maybe they're onto something.

Timberlake throws every influence he’s ever touched at the canvas here, and he somehow gets away with it.

Dopamine isn't his best record, and it might be his worst, but for one of the slyest songwriters from the past two decades of pop, "worst" can still be pretty damn great.

It may not supplant Through Being Cool or Stay What You Are as your favorite Saves The Day album, but you can safely put it in the upper echelon of their discography.

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

While there’s a healthy dose of filler on Sheezus, there’s still plenty of charmers.

Gossamer. That's the best way to describe the new album by The Watson Twins. Like strings of gossamer and gauze, Talking To You, Talking To Me is a supple, soothing effort that's relaxed, reflective and decidedly old-school.

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

If anything, Tha Carter IV feels like a party, one that Wayne is throwing for his contemporaries in the hip-hop scene.

This album is mostly just a fun side project for the band before they start plugging away at the next full length, and it should be taken as such.

So make no mistake, Rolling Papers is unquestionably slick pop-rap candy, and there's nothing substantive to be found beneath the choking shroud of weed smoke.

Morrison’s occasional lyrical forays into cheeseball territory can detract from the record, but taken as a whole there’s more to like here than there is to hate.

It's not that All at Once isn't a likable record; it just seems rather scattershot, and none of it captures the hard-hitting intensity of their debut's best cuts.

Aside from a thin outer veil, This Modern Glitch is a disappointment from a band who most listeners were probably only hoping to get a few catchy singles from.

Nothing, and nobody, is broken beyond repair, and Unbroken showcases that beautifully.

Chaplin, Rice-Oxley and drummer Richard Hughes, chased down something different while still remaining true to their former records. Not only does it work, it provides a valuable lesson for bands that are far too afraid of taking risks.

While Flowers is a bit more reserved in his solo outing, Flamingo still retains a bit the thematic charm of a typical Killers album.

The instrumentation is luscious and variable, the harmonies are wonderful, the lyrics are solid and compelling for the most part, and with such a lovely blend of slower and up-tempo tracks to choose from, Overlook is something you definitely don't want to do in regards to what might just be considered Maria Taylor's finest solo effort to date.

I've expressed a fair amount of negativity toward Euphoric Heartbreak, but Glasvegas are an endearing, though a bit try-hard, band, and Euphoric Heartbreak is an endearing, though a bit try-hard, album.

Long Way Down has just enough flaws to show that Odell has room to grow and progress. If you listen to one pop album this year, this is a pretty good bet.

For everything Smith lacks in wordsmithing, his bandmates make up for in straight up dramatic songwriting.

The final outcome of this is an extreme lack of consistency. The high spots are high, but the low spots are even lower.

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

Trill O.G. is a decidedly clashing album. Bun B's old school tendencies are constantly at odds with genre conventions prevalent in today's scene. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't.

From a technical standpoint, the album does little to challenge, provoke or push the envelope. From a thematic standpoint, there's no cerebral or overarching theme, there's no incendiary political or social statements. At its core, it is a safe, sun-kissed collection of 11 utterly harmless light rock songs about the delights of newfound love.

Wake Up starts with six successive titanic efforts is commendable but also somewhat disappointing. On the second half of the LP, the formula remains the same.

Fiasco has since gone on record as saying he both loves and hates this album. After all he went through to get it released, it's hard to blame him. But all the hard work he supposedly put into making sure Lasers remained true to his vision seems all for naught.

Almost Everything is a triumphant, forward-thinking and near perfect effort. With a disc this good, the piano-pop genre just might have its new hero.

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.

The Dark Leaves is no less unassuming than anything else they've released, and about half of it is squarely in line with the material on their recent albums.

What Is Love? is a very enjoyable record and a lot better than what I expected. Christofer Drew has given his listeners a taste of his potential, because, musically, he knows what he is doing.

At this stage in his career, he is firmly focused on doing whatever he and his band want to do. That kind of artistic freedom should certainly be applauded, one just wishes the results were far more satisfying.

Each song will become the soundtrack for Mean Girls soccer moms and pre-teen pre-sluts everywhere.

The record as a substantial body of work comes complete with up-tempo numbers that are danceable but without an enticing hook, a few straightforward pop/rock tunes with tremendous choruses, and an album ending ballad that renders the album slightly indifferent, inconsistent and lacking an underlying direction and purpose.

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.

Night Visions is a disc laden with buoyant choruses, arena-ready swagger and armfuls of dance floor attitude.

While armfuls of musicians can sing songs and sound entirely forced, insincere and phony, Potts is blessed in that every word he sings sounds authentic, honest and direct. In a musical landscape chock full of Auto-Tune and feigned emotion, a disc like this is certainly something to champion.

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

Over and done in less than 45 minutes, Crazy World is a fine album from a band who seems comfortable with their place in the landscape of contemporary music.

On their second go-around, the production is a lot cleaner and the transitions move a lot smoother.

Agitations makes wrecking balls out of playground jacks in that it uses the same amount of destructive velocity as it does stimulate youth.