His limber voice and way with a lyric serve him well.

It’s hard to remember that he once wrote well-crafted ballads of romantic infatuation.

Elements of rock, folk, and blues pervade, and producer George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, the Jayhawks) stays out of the way, allowing Merritt’s voice to embody the songs, all 11 of which flow from start to finish, uninterrupted and primed for full-on stardom.

There's an undeniable, infectious energy at work here which is put to great use with the self-deprecating humor and immense pop chops.

Another Public Enemy album is always good news for hip-hop fans, and How You Sell... carries the torch.

For the most part though, One Step Forward is more self assured and richly textured, nicely refining a winning formula that will no doubt enchant the many fans of its predecessor.

Less immediately ear-grabbing than the previous disc, this self-titled record nonetheless sinks in deeply after a mere handful of plays.

As with the band's other releases, the music inspires clear feelings of love and hate.

There's something here for everyone, to be sure--but closer to Ween's antic hearts, something to annoy everyone as well.

The black-clad New York quartet still sounds inflexibly menacing, grasping tighter than ever to its doomy post-punk influences and delving further into frontman Paul Banks's emotional unrest.

He's an expert at creating mesmerizing, sophisticated pop.

It's as if they peeled away a layer or two in order to reveal more of the pop band beneath the off-kilter country-rock trappings.

In a sea of pretenders, the Kills are capable of providing some genuine competition for the White Stripes.

His richest and most consistently satisfying release since the late '80s.

Free to Stay is loaded with complex harmonies and awesome distorted keyboard sounds (hey, this is what Quasi were supposed to sound like!).

Where this translates, then, is with those willing to man up and embrace what makes Pink Pink: her spellbinding ability to render rebelliousness in all the many colors of the rainbow.

[The] consistent quality belies any notion of the extraneous.

This record's delightful and wholly original; no one else could possibly have made it.

If you like the Strokes, you should be spending this week’s CD allowance on Elefant’s first full-length recording.

Electric Six is the most exciting band to come tumbling out of Detroit since Kiss.

No modern-day male artist beats him when it comes to single-minded self assurance or suavity.

The sharpest, most assured, and best record of her solo career.

As an album, it probably won't spawn any MTV-hogging video classics--certainly, that was never the intention--but Finn fans in search of a mellow listen should find Everyone Is Here hits all the right buttons.

Red Light District has its share of filler, but, track for track, Ludacris still delivers satisfaction.

Ms. Kelly, though, has some points to prove, foremost among them that this songbird can rock.

Add 3121 to the mounting pile of evidence: Prince is the black Beck.

The results range wider musically than Heavy Trash have previously, without compromising the sonic squawl and psychobilly vocals that have long provided the duo's signature sound.

The quintet moves easily from straight ahead, if slightly-fractured rockers, to fine slices of cerebral sonics.