Bed & Bugs is uneven, bewildering and about four songs too long--but I don’t think these dudes would have it any other way.

Heartbreaking Bravery is pretty far-out and difficult to pigeonhole, even for Krug's standards--but what sets is apart from the rest of his catalog is a dark, throbbing instrumental cohesion.

Cold War Kids’ multifaceted style keeps things exciting even at the LP’s weaker points, but how does the story change when taken as a whole? Maybe not by much. Taken on its own, though, New Age Norms 3 shows how much Cold War Kids will push to figure themselves out as they grow and the world around them slowly shifts into something unfamiliar.

Man Man have crafted an album here that, without betraying their old fans, makes their music accessible to a wider audience.

The crisp production makes this feel like a well-thought-out and intentional release, rather than a rushed cash-grab. However, it’s this poise that makes Good News exactly that: good. When held up to past releases like Tina Snow and Fever, Megan’s larger-than-life personality over the Dirty South production she is most familiar with is not showcased to its full potential.

Shooter isn’t perfect, but it’s a good, solid collection of satisfying songs. And for those who’ve been waiting for Jennings to re-embrace his country-music birthright, it’ll be more than enough. Now he can wander some more, if he wants to.

Native Invader is not one of Tori’s sexier albums, nor is it as playful as she’s demonstrated herself capable of being. But it’s strong and unwavering in its commitment to being muse-driven and unafraid.

While this early work lacks the sheer violent width of the band’s more accomplished cousins The Melvins, its experimental energy is hard to miss.

Ultimately, One Day comes with an interesting narrative that gives people like me something to write about, and as an experiment, it was surely a challenge and a creative accelerant. These are all good things.

GIRL probably won’t drum up quite the same level of critical spectacle as Golden Hour, but Morris’ endearing and earnest second album is country-pop polished for radio that still feels down-to-earth.

Despite the over-production that occasionally takes away from the Clavins’ raw talent, the album itself tells vital truths about the codependence of addicts (“This is hell and I can’t hide / But you’re keeping me alive / Saying such sweet things to me”), the rose-colored glasses worn when remembering the days before being consumed by alcoholism (“Yeah I know how this ends / And I’d watch it again / Every loss and win,”) and the importance of acknowledging sobriety as a continuous journey.

As far as songs are concerned,Um, Uh Oh is pretty much business as usual, which is to say it's full of songs neither revelatory nor skippable. The tracks are raw, stripped-down, and crisp, embracing his newfound production polish with aplomb.

Part minimalist dance record, part undulating sound collage, his new album serves as a scrapbook of nearly every idea Hebden has examined and cast aside during his career.

While the album has its moments of musical limitation and monotony, Shapiro’s central voice on Chastity Belt is teeming with insight, even when that insight is born from an identity of dissonance.

What an enormous room’s production reaches the same high watermark as prior efforts like Three Futures and Silver Tongue, but struggles to land with the same impact.

Between Yorn’s ingratiating tunes, Johansson’s harmonies and the lush, inventive production, Break Up ultimately succeeds in its ambitious goal of capturing the spirit--if not the sound--of the late-’60s musical partnership between Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot

Here, they sound self-assured and steady, like a group that understands what they have and makes the most of it.

With any dreams there are ups and downs, and the same can be said about Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.

Despite its flaws, Vol. 2 is the second-best thing the Olds have done in a decade.

Broderick ensures that her voice articulates clearly in the production, more so than on her previous solo album Glider (2015). This choice does justice to the observant poetry that shimmers through her finest lyrics.

A slightly lackluster recording quality on a couple of the tracks keep Ben Folds Five Live from feeling like the band’s definitive live album, despite its name, but the collection also features a few strong moments and interesting takes on both old and new songs that make it a worthwhile collector’s item, or just a nice change of pace for the casual Ben Folds fan.

They sound like anonymous technoids coming to grips with what it means to want the world in musical terms that will most certainly put their faces on the map. Better invest in some robot helmets.

Although appealing in a fantasy-genre glutton way, the album feels a little one-dimensional.

That Lucero often focuses on guys like that [screw-ups] doesn’t diminish the power of those songs, but it makes it harder for any one of them to stand out when there are so many solid options. On the other hand, the fact that Lucero has made it 25 years singing about bad luck and worse choices is, in its own counterintuitive way, something worth celebrating.

Obscurities will please hardcore fans and serves as a nice holdover until Magnetic Fields makes its official Merge return with a new full-length in 2012.

There's little here in the way of cohesion, but Wolf demonstrates a nuanced affection for his craft that’s easy to appreciate.

Even while it seems like Back to Land bubbles in those familiar pools of repetition, their playing more often coaxes the groove to take flight rather than be run into the ground.

An album I like quite a lot when it’s on and ultimately, for better or worse, doesn’t stick with me much afterwards.

All of the classic rock components are here--drug-induced percussion segues, heavy distortion on guitars, a singer who may or may not be fully cognizant about whether the recording process is underway. There’s an ethos at work, a controlled chaos, and it’s a brilliantly orchestrated jam session.

While the recording and performance are at times a little ragged in voice and tone, the band’s earlier semi-punk instincts ring through and its taste remains impeccable.

His lyrics are far more discursive and poetic, and grapple more strongly with existential issues. Musically, it can make for inspired moments like the wowing extended coda of “Blackt Out” or the Grateful Dead-like “Key-Hole.” Just as quickly, though, things can go sour.

While her album shares its laptop atmosphere with many other troubadours plying Boston’s streets, it’s sprinkled with heavyweight pro touches that belie her deeper legacy.

We Were Promised Jetpacks may have found their style for now, but this album still hints that nothing's settled yet.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts is not the breakthrough into critical acclaim either, hampered by innocuous words and the lack of personality in the arrangements and individual players, Matt Aveiro, Matt Maust and new guy Dann Gallucci.

While FIDLAR benefit from cleaned-up production, the hit-or-miss, albeit courageous, tracklist is indicative of a band that’s still workshopping their sound.

Jade Bird is an album of loose change, a pocketful of shiny, well-written nuggets that might give off a lot of flash individually but when put together don’t equal the sum of their parts. Thankfully, Bird’s singular musical style--a chalky blend of roots-rock, country and pop--and her mighty, mighty roar cancel out any thematic fumbles entirely.

While parts of Planet (i) can feel akin to standing out in the sun on a particularly sweltering day, Squirrel Flower’s talent as a chronicler of relationships and memories makes this album worth exploring.

For the most part, Panda Bear manages to fall somewhere in between, creating a work that can be appreciated as both interesting from a compositional standpoint and enjoyable as an extension of his creative path over the past several years.

Speak Now solidifies Swift as a pop star in her own right. She may not have the edge of Lady Gaga or the sex appeal of a young Britney, but, much like Beyonce, she does want someone to put a ring on it-even if that does mean meeting her dad and promising you'll love her forever.

No amount of reissue padding will ever tarnish the mesmerizing mess of Physical Graffiti. It’s funny--only now, 40 years later, has the true filler finally emerged.

Ward's lo-fi (and utterly charming) ditties make you long for a past you never lived. [#14, p.123]

The first four songs alone are a revelation of sustained focus and fury. ... It would be impressive if Gigaton retained the thrill and invention of its first half, but that’s a tall order. There are invariably duds mixed amongst its 57-minute runtime.

Despite the impressive breadth of their ambition, not all of the experiments stick.

Time on Earth is another batch of Finn’s impeccably crafted pop gems.

Breeze: An Appreciation Of JJ Cale isn’t a perfect record by any means, but if these versions of his best-loved songs from Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Willie Nelson and Mark Knopfler encourage people to listen to Cale’s originals, the whole effort will have been worthwhile.

A lively album with a strong melodic sense. [Aug 2006, p.90]

Jimmy Eat World’s decidedly more adult Chase This Light finds the Mesa, Ariz., foursome bartering their former angst and fitful ennui for sophisticated, toothsome power pop.

Suffice it to say that Private Life is as socially conscious as albums come. It can also be a slog to get through.

There’s good rock ’n’ roll here, and it’s vital and raw enough to be memorable. But there’s something calculated too, something demographically researched and meticulously executed in these songs.

{A] scattered, contradictory work of an icon straining to keep up with his own brilliant pace.

Like an indie-rock version of Dylan & The Dead--only surprisingly inspired instead of barely palatable. [Apr/May 2006, p.110]

Their first album in 16 years aims to achieve a similar blend of the edgy, catchy and commercial. And it does just that with 'Eyes Wide Open,' which features a synth loop that sounds like the Magical Musical Thing toy of the ’70s, then blossoms with the bright harmonies of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson.

Never troubled by the problem of finding a voice so much as slowing down the torrent of post-everything fuzz guitar, tempo shifts and schizoid stomps, the trio here finds a middle ground between melody and experimentation.

Howl feels consistently meaty and comfortably crafted. [Oct/Nov 2005, p.121]

Some of the most expressive tracks of Low's career. [Apr 2007, p.57]

Supergrass is shedding even more of its goofiness, but the music--while more straight-faced--still sounds energized as ever.

Life Fantastic deemphasizes their goof a bit. The record restricts their trademark eclecticism into what is probably their most self-contained album thus far.

This five-song EP is a pleasantly jumbled affair that shows Lekman's lyrical facility continues to improve, while his stylistic palette continues to broaden

[Honeycomb has] some of Black’s most mature songwriting to date and a chilled-out sound that plays like the cure to a hangover after a night of Pixies-soundtracked debauchery.

These sad-sack satirists pepper their fourth album with tracks that quicken the pace to anaerobic levels, as frontman Will Sheff liberally shpritzes his microphone while the band gets lathered up like participants in a grade-school dodgeball game.

While A Mad and Faithful Telling--the band’s first album of all original material since 2004’s "How it Ends"--doesn’t exactly break new ground, it offers a much fuller realization of dynamic and structural sensitivity.

Here, harmonies, bouncy synths and cheeky metaphors abound, and, besides a few clunky miscalculations, the record is an undeniably fun listen.

[Their] strangest album. [Apr/May 2006, p.119]

Listening to Automat from start to finish, you could make a case that Edkins and Menzies were wrong. And as the track sequence arrives at more recent material (skipping-over the band’s 2012 cover of Sparklehorse’s “Pig,” for some reason), you can’t help but wonder what would have been had the band continued to explore freer song structures.

Frightened Rabbit wrings a winning simplicity from all this august isolation. A cardiac pulse animates many of the songs, a mightily thwacking unison at the core of all the kaleidoscopic embellishment.

While II has its stellar (and interstellar) moments, the band could use a little focus--otherwise they could risk becoming just a fuzzy memory.

Producer Ray Kennedy delivers the tough, guitar/keyboard/ bass/drum sound you’d expect, with no gratuitous nods toward alt.country.... Welcome back, old friend.

Overall, the ups far outweigh the downs.

Like most songwriters, she’s at her most effective when she sidesteps the obvious image in favor of something more singular. Pruitt does enough of that to make Expectations a solid enough debut that it will be worth waiting to see what she does next.

Commendable, but not very enjoyable.

Between them, Stenborg and Yttling ensure that Our Ill Wills doesn’t sink under the weight of Olenius’ unremitting melancholy or monochromatic tonalities.

The disparate releases are as oil and water as ever, with a new song on each disc that doesn't fit at all, and only the final one, "Til Dawn (Here Comes the Sun)" isn't negligible.

At its best, Mugiboogie sounds a bit like Spoon, if they were kind of insane and way into Primus.

It’s a recovery record that serves as an profound artistic statement of individuality, redemption and freedom.

Ringleader Alex Ebert produced the album and sonically, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros feels slick and compressed.

On their best songs, PUP have always built hooks that can carry entire albums. It’s just unfortunate to see those sing-alongs held back by THE UNRAVELING’s surrounding misfires.

Rare is most effective when it glistens.

Adams could still use a good editor to separate the wheat from the chaff, but the good thing about a demos compilation is that it doesn't have to be well-edited, and III/IV is better than most.

Despite its warbly lo-fi aesthetic and unfinished feel, Crush Songs does have an honest, classic vibe to it.

Disconcerting and intensely beautiful. [Oct/Nov 2005, p.146]

Bad Brains still sounds best when it's angry, though.

The songs amble through multiple genre divides, most pushing well past the three-minute pop mark. Good thing--it’s the contrasts where the pleasure lies.

Somber and yet stirring, Each Other is an album that encourages shoe gazing, day dreaming and simply settling into quiet contemplation.

What Makes You Country has no shortage of potential hits.

The best tracks on Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics actually come in the form of mashups.

At its worst, The Golden Echo is admirably faceless, exhausting in its eager quest to be everything to everyone at once. At its best, it’s subversive pop brilliance.

Lovely and visceral at once. [Oct/Nov 2005, p.141]

At long last, Springsteen has realized that not every album has to be an attempted masterpiece. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.111]

Unpredictably unique. [Dec 2005, p.126]

Eisley has developed its own unique, almost anti-populist sound, and a healthy, inquisitive sensitivity, to boot.

A compelling collision of listenable and clever. [Dec 2006, p.97]

While Grinderman's rough-and-tumble democracy makes for an exciting, illicit affair, it's only that: a gorgeous bit of rough trade to scratch that seven-year itch. [May 2007, p.62]

Puzzles' songs are accelerated to the point of whiplash. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.128]

It's great to have her back. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.100]

The alleged crime is only mentioned obliquely, but through its elision it becomes a kind of omni-crime that encompasses all the wrongs Gibbs has ever committed: in the streets, in relationships and in fatherhood.

Låpsley is nothing if not diverse, but she manages to retain a bespoke, trademark sound throughout Long Way Home.

Decidedly a pop record. [Apr/May 2005, p.150]

Bright and Vivid feels like the work of an artist eager to grow and mature; I just wish she'd be okay with where she is right now too.