The husband and wife team's fourth album with both of their names on it, Written in Chalk, makes the most of its rangy sonic palette with subtly soul-searing, rough-edged tunes that are equal parts savvy and haunting.

The guitars are rough and the lyrics mumbled, but even the most rote garage tunes betray a craftsmanship often missing from the genre. The collection is the Lips' first that would have benefited from some trimming.

Holland's airy, electronic pop music with layers of vocals. It's pleasant enough, though it's not as compelling as March of the Zapotec.

The difference between mediocre and magnificent Morrissey records tends to be the music, and by that measure, Years of Refusal is the strongest of his three '00s comeback efforts.

Thursday gets away with being so gloomy by keeping the energy level sky-high and the sonic assault dense, making Common Existence more thrilling than seething.

A tight collection fueled by glints of the rock, soul and country that came out of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., in the '60s and '70s.

A more mature Allen might not be as much fun, but in the absence of acidity, her sweetness shines through.

Auerbach shows his vocal range again and again, actually singing instead of just howling at the moon, and his knack for warm production is impressive.

Off-kilter humor is a trademark of Samberg's, though, and while most of the songs here won't have much staying power, they're funny enough right now.

The group doesn't stray far from the template, turning in another batch of hooky mid-tempo songs that are pretty without necessarily sounding distinctive.

As a spirited reintroduction, the album is by no means too little, but given the time the band has been away, it may be too late.

The 33-year-old from Arizona keeps things interesting with low-key traces of gritty personality, a quality that rears its head on Feel That Fire and elevates the appeal of its carefully manicured rowdiness.

Wynonna Judd takes what appears to be a quirky assortment of songs she enjoyed while growing up and unifies them into a consistent and appealing album with her roomy vocal warmth and expansive personality.

A subtler, smarter album with a considerable capacity to get you moving.

Never has grocery shopping seemed more promising, and if there weren't plenty of other reasons why Working on a Dream is a keeper, that one would be enough.

The duo's follow-up is a more relaxed affair. Though it, too, has cleverness to spare, the album is less cutesy and self-conscious than its predecessor. The beats are stronger, at times hitting with hip-hop force, and the music is fuller and more imaginative.

The irony is that such a colorful person and performer in life has seen so little of that fire (no pun intended for those who recall Lopes' most infamous exploit) carry over to her work.

Hegarty wrote and helped to arrange all the songs on The Crying Light, and his writing bears the same pensive sensitivity as his singing on what amounts to a spellbinding album.

The best songs here stand alongside the best songs in Newman's repertoire, but not everything on Get Guilty lives up to so high a standard. Make of that what you will.

Whatever the sound, his songs are unfailingly catchy, and his smart lyrics and lovely melodies make them stand out even when they're understated.

Skin of Evil may come off as an unwieldy curio at first pass, but lingering listens will reveal the gripping gothic undertow of Mercer's warts-and-all songwriting, even for newcomers.

The Crawling Distance, Pollard's umpteenth disc since officially going solo in 2004, offers more of what listeners have come to expect.

Throughout the CD's 10 tracks, Wino lets his personality show.

The prog-rock elements that begin the disc and surface throughout help to make the familiar sound fresh.

Derek Trucks Band has produced its most commercially viable CD to date.

Thanks to a certain screw-it attitude and massive, enveloping soundscapes, Glasvegas is a deeply engrossing and relentlessly catchy introduction to a group that's hyped enough in Britain to have already generated plenty of backlash.

On its ninth studio album, the group tells tales of true love and trucking--subjects all country artists are entitled to explore--but it also takes plenty of off-road detours.

This is a more sophisticated record that manages to keep intact the brash sensibility that helped attract all those fans in the first place.