The album is chirpy, playful and transitory, dispensing 10 songs in 31 minutes.

Interesting juxtapositions proliferate, but Ava Luna often seems to be pursuing oddity for its own sake. The best cuts here are the most unitary.

Paul Walker’s not for everyone but will at least get the 40-somethings to quit bitching about Green Day.

Free Reign, co-produced by Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin, is subtler, jazzier and ever-so-slightly sexier than previous Clinic outings.

While some tracks prove unradical, it is when Astronautalis fuses heavy bluesy-rock influences with his beats that Science truly shines.

Sermon on the Rocks should speak to anyone with an ear for melody and an appreciation for a commanding, compelling delivery. Whether or not this broadens Ritter’s reach remains to be seen, but even if it falls short, be assured that it’s still excellent regardless.

The problem is the album starts to wear thin about halfway in and never really gets back the strength of those first few songs.

They ply the same general furrow as American contemporaries like Wooden Shjips, though with a tighter, more consciously limited focus.

As Toro Y Moi is mirroring sounds from genres past, Anything in Return sounds all too familiar.

While not nearly as great as seeing the band live, this record does a commendable job of capturing the band at their energetic, playful best.

The Canadian chanteuse offers up a series of deceptively delicate entreaties that quickly give way to the sort of emphatic rhythms and boisterous melodies that reflect an unmistakably bold confidence.

All in all, it makes for a rich and resilient brew, and maybe, just maybe, the kind of opus that will propel Jurado towards the greater accolades he so clearly deserves.

None of these songs (well maybe “Hear No Evil”) will really shock long-term Lightning Bolt fans--but they do depart in interesting ways from the main project.

Mollestad gives us a generous and welcome taste of that classic sound, which her own twist on it that would hopefully make McLaughlin himself proud.

There is nothing particularly revolutionary about the new record, rather it is a band finding confidence in a sound that’s new to them.

With Sleeper Segall sounds almost, well, mature, and emotionally invested.

Deer Tick’s fifth and latest offering is a tad darker and surprisingly personal compared to earlier efforts. The result is ultimately a stronger album, but it takes a little time to get to the good stuff.

For all that remarkable restraint, Dennison creates a stirring impression, making this convergence of emotion and execution equate to nothing less than pure, evocative bliss.

If you’ve heard their main/prior bands then the sound of this won’t surprise you, but it’ll still feel like an old friend that you always pick up right where you left off.

One should not have to turn in anywhere from one-to-two-hours of wages to hear the old coot warble out Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again”, regardless of how novel the way by which he crafted it.

Modestly presented but expertly crafted, Incidental Hum does exactly what a solo album from a well-respected bandleader is supposed to do: show off a different side of the artist’s talent and provide plenty of entertainment in the bargain.

The instrumental nuances make for a vibrant whole, but often times, less works best.

For you kids out there planning to attend space camp, I can't think of better counselors than Elders and Valentine to take you far out where few have journeyed before.

Musically, expressive and thematically sound, I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always is as promising a pronouncement as its title suggests.

Though hardly the type of platter meant to accompany any sort of festive gathering, Little Heater still manages to stir the senses.

Breaking away from their by now trademark South Jersey, cruising with the radio on brand of punk rock that first got them noticed, the band is likely to alienate some early fans with Get Hurt. In doing so, however, The Gaslight Anthem is doing much more to preserve the band in the long run, evolving at a steady, but satisfying clip.

While the band may seem more aware of emphatic expression overall, many of the melodies maintain the anthemic perspective that ‘s always been so inherent and inspired.

It has, not surprisingly, an elegiac quality, a mournful, melancholy cast to its elliptical phrasing. Like the first iconic first lady, the music is polished and well reined in.