Devil sees them continuing to move forward again, and although Hale's presence will certainly be missed, fans of the band will find that the return of Frost and Owens more than makes up for the loss.

[The Birds of Satan] deliver a batch of songs combining the muscular intellectualism of Queens of the Stone Age with the melodic passion of Foo Fighters.

Undefeated is a revealing set of songs that spins gold from life's big and little ups and downs.

Right-sized, organized in a sensible manner, and an alluring balance of cool and calm, Fly Rasta lives up to its title as it sits on Ziggy's top shelf.

His newfound control on Estara makes the flowing sounds and uplifting moods that distinguish him within the beat music scene all the more expressive.

Rowe seems even more like an instrument rather than a lead voice, but it's all comforting, if not revealing, made more for background or late-night listening than complete emotional immersion.

Its beauty is multivalent: while the music is made of constant motion, it creates an utterly still space in the listener, who can not only eventually recognize its numerous patterns emerging and dissipating, but can follow them down through various levels of consciousness as they resonate inside and outside the body.

Amphetamine Ballads is a debut that shows real promise, but if this band really wants to put the fear into the world, the first step on their reign of terror should be to hire a rhythm guitarist.

While Hard Boiled Soft Boiled's polarized presentation sometimes makes these songs seem more monotonous than they actually are, the album's highlights are on par with Odonis Odonis' previous bests.

This is a gratifying second step from one of the most exciting contemporary R&B artists to appear during the 2010s.

Arguably, it fares better as a decent Frank Black album than an anticlimactic Pixies album, and fans who can appreciate that these songs don't diminish the legacy of the band's previous music will probably enjoy it the most.

In all, Sky Swimming is a lovely, impressionistic debut that suggests Elephant are on the cusp of delivering even more.

On the whole, More Than Any Other Day is a deeply refreshing listen, bursting at the seams with joy and anger and less indebted to its long list of influences than it is an entity greater than the sum of its parts.

Even though Midnight Sun feels like a creative milestone for the band, it's clear that it's just another step in Lennon and Muhl's creative evolution, and while fans might miss it when it's gone, it's exciting to think about what these two might be seeing on the horizon.

Fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, Virginia Astley, Lars Von Trier, and even Chairlift should find Ramona Lisa's debut a rainy-day soundtrack of the highest order.

Floor are that rare band that have managed to channel a decade's worth of personal and artistic growth into evolving their sound while somehow making the whole thing feel as though it could've been released the year after their landmark debut, making Oblation an album one that not only lives up to the band's legacy, but is a meaningful contribution to it.

Supernova is unapologetically and indulgently retro; a casual listen might dismiss it as mere nostalgia. But pairing Auerbach's detailed, careful production with LaMontagne's open, expertly crafted songwriting and breezy, sensual, emotionally unburdened signing, that boundary is shattered.

Sure, the sound of Shriek may scare off people who need guitars to be the focal point of their indie rock, but for anyone with a slightly more experimental nature or anyone who likes synths and subtlety and wonderfully emotive vocals, it's a great and welcome surprise that's a brilliant step forward for Wye Oak.

Sometimes a willingness to toss off responsibility once in a while is a sure sign of maturity, and if you want to hear a golden example of this thinking in action, the Old 97's have one for you with Most Messed Up.

The loving layers of static, submerged guitar progressions, and effortless meshes of naturalistic themes and glitchy processing all play into a language of sound distinct to Fennesz and reaching some of their clearest articulations here.

This album evidences an expanded creative reach for the pair, even as it re-engages the sharp edges they displayed on earlier recordings.

Get Back isn't pretty--this is a sloppy, wet kiss of a record that leaves a little sick on you--but it's heartfelt enough to win you over and dangerous enough to wish you had told someone before you got into the car with it, which is what rock & roll in its purest form should be.

Romme's tales of woe manage to transcend the usual trappings of traditional singer/songwriter confessionalism by adopting a universal miasma, leaning more toward the dark English folk side of the chamber pop spectrum.

These tracks amuse and torment in roughly equal measure.

Dalle sounds comfortable, confident, and liberated on Diploid Love, and she gives listeners a more complete portrait of her artistry along the way.

Upon repeated listens, the sorrowful undertow of Everyday Robots becomes a comfort, a balm for moments of alienation; it's the kind of record that when you're lonely, you press play.

Shrink Dust has some truly inspired moments and fits right in with VanGaalen's building mythology.

After more than 20 records, Motorpsycho remain inexhaustible in their creativity, fully, energetically, in command of a musical vision that is boundless.

There is much to like about Green's music, but if Haul Away! is indeed part of a potential trilogy, let's hope the songwriting on her third offering outweighs its stylish ambitions.

Granular Tales is a pleasant surprise--an album that acknowledges the Woodentops' frantic glory days while offering them a way to move into the 21st century gracefully, and demonstrates how dance music can mature while still getting the party started; this doesn't exactly pick up where the Woodentops left off, but certainly finds them just where they want and need to be.

When taken together, the tracks on III provide incontrovertible evidence that 15 years after their career ambitions went up the chimney, Death continued not only to make music, but to evolve and grow as a band. Even though this music is less intense, it retains the trio's trademark sound throughout.

You don't have to love baseball to love the Baseball Project (though it clearly helps)--on 3rd, this band has made an album that listeners who love a good story with some tough guitars can like, even if they're foolish enough to prefer football.

Plague Vendor have captured the feeling of youthful defiance that spurred the genre's pioneers to action, and while their debut might not be long enough to be the soundtrack to your late-night antics, it's the perfect album to light the fuse on a night you probably won't remember in the morning.

Not easily understood as dance music, experimental music, or rock music, Enclosure considers, rejects, and reconsiders all of them on a second-to-second basis and stands as one of the more listenable of Frusciante's ever-obtuse solo albums.

It's a joyous thing to hear, a record that recaptures much of the magic of Leon's Shelter records without being fussy.

The world of Future is as wobbly and as wonderful as ever, and thanks to Honest, it just got grand.

Taken in as an album and Azalea's constant "bow down" attitude makes this a cuckoldish experience, so think "some will pay for what others pay to avoid" and approach accordingly.

Love Without Fear is a strong, mature work and it's great to hear Wilson step out from behind his collaborators to present his own work again.

Even if Neon Trees sometimes try a little too hard to be serious on Pop Psychology, it's some of their most heartfelt music and some of their finest.

With few duds to speak of, The Space Project sees most of its contributors turning in high-quality material, interacting with the sounds of the unknown in inventive and inspired ways.

Compared to their chameleonic debut, The Way and Color sometimes almost feels too consistent, but hearing TEEN's fondness for reinvention focused into songs this good is even more rewarding.

Fear of Men come all that much closer to the mastery of their uniquely conflicted perspective on pop music with Loom, offering a set of songs as effortlessly enjoyable as they are smart, as inspired as they are hopeless.

While there isn't much separating Rented World from the Menzingers' sophomore effort musically, there's a contemplative aura surrounding the songs that shows all of the hallmarks of a band growing into more nuanced and capable songwriters.

This set is sly, funny, cunning, occasionally evil, and entertaining throughout.

What saves this album from being just another version of some guy at the bar going on and on about some lady he lost is E's subtle and easy way with a melody, and even though some of these songs are so slow as to barely have a pulse, they flow well and easily into and out of each other.

While it remains almost impossible to dissociate Kelis and early collaborators the Neptunes, it's more difficult imagining a better creative alliance--at this point in her career, at least--than the one that shines here.

The result is an album that gets the mind/body balance just right, and shows Ume are paying off on the potential of their earlier work.

Even the music Jenkinson makes completely with computers by himself has more of a push than the automated tunes that feel more dispensed than played on Music for Robots.

Lights Out features a broadened sonic palette and a much more robust vocal performance; it's a transformation she's been perfecting since 2009's Everybody and 2012's Human Again.

Caves may not have been the follow-up fans expected of her, but as Tristen's artistry continues to evolve, future left turns such as this will be welcome.

Don't even let the bittersweet-bearing haters know that Posner and Kweli's great freedom overspill is sweetly delivered over a beat from the late J Dilla, but when the other key tracks come from tearing down fear of the Illuminati ("Wormhole") and the almost always iffy category of rap-rock ("Demonology" with Big K.R.I.T. and Gary Clark, Jr. stomps and groans like a Led Zeppelin song), Gravitas becomes an album where anything can happen and often does, as long as it's genuine.

We Are Catchers lets you choose your level of engagement: listen to the pretty tunes or dig in and feel something. Either way, listening to the album is a treat and those who like their pop soft as clouds should find plenty to love.

The great thing about May Death Never Stop You is how it showcases all their brilliant, florid moments so they sound like visionaries without a continent to call home.

It's not a perfect record, but noteworthy for its musical risk-taking and assertive attitude.

Get hip or get irked because either reaction is worthy of this loud, smart-ass joke put on loop, but not since Disco Tex unleashed his Sex-O-Lettes has there been such a cheeky way to keep dancing.

Even as Tycho adds more depth and variety to his sound, his music's main success is giving listeners an attractive backdrop for whatever they might be doing.

His impressive mastery of sounds is now matched by the quality of the songs, and overall one would be hard-pressed to find a better, more satisfying electronic dance music album in 2014, or anytime.

The various elements of grueling, confused rock nihilism and clear-headed spirituality result in some new kind of cosmic punk, existing on a strange galactic plane somewhere between chaos and enlightenment.

Minimum Rock N Roll is spare but solid, and offers some real rock & roll kicks along with a dash of radical food for thought, something in short supply on the indie scene in this day and age.

Fear in Bliss is a lovingly crafted and well-written album by a young band coming into its own.

Japanther sound more in touch than ever with the spirit of youth, excitement, and discovery that started the band 13 years before the release of this album.

The album is easily the most solid offering from the Woods camp to date, besting even the production of its incredibly strong predecessor and presenting the songs with even more clarity and interesting choices than ever before.

There's enough of Thee Oh Sees' personality in Drop that fans will readily recognize it, but if you've ever been turned off by their layers of skronk, or the acid-damaged travels into the sonic wilderness, Drop could well be the album where this band finally catches up with you.

It takes real nerve to pull something like this off, but Nutini's swagger is easily matched by the quality of the material and his inspired performance.

Every element is in the right place but Watt is smart enough to leave some elements undone, giving the album a human heart that's evident no matter how deliberate the entire affair may be.

The final product is intelligent and often fascinating, but it doesn't deliver like the Afghan Whigs do at their best, and ultimately comes off as a brave but somewhat unsatisfying experiment.

This is Crowell at his best: focused, balanced, clever, at times profound. It's a welcome return to form.

Built on Glass isn't so much limited as it is a wonderful mood piece, so think calm and cool with purpose, and then get hip to the restrained and resonating sound of Faker.

They work hard to make it a true collaboration, and due to that effort and the high quality of the songs they each brought, it works amazingly well.

Big Head Todd & the Monsters will never be a gutbucket, down-and-dirty blues-rock outfit, but Black Beehive proves that's fine: they have found their own friendly spin on the blues and have become a better band for it.

Artful and ambitious throughout, Oh, Common Life may not bring cheer to most listeners, but the passion informing both the lyrics and the music shows that Fireworks offer something genuinely life-affirming despite their dour surfaces.

As displayed on I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell: A Channel, it's also simultaneously holistic, maddening, erotic, bleak, bright, and most of all, visionary.

Pattern Is Movement display their visions of skewed pop in bold, vivid colors, with faint echoes of their mathy past buried but still audible through the walls of joyous noise.

While words like "fun" or "entertaining" aren't likely to ever be used to describe I Shall Die Here, those with the fortitude to endure its savagery and stare into the abyss will definitely know what they're made of.

It may not deliver a knockout punch but it's not intended to be powerful; it's a grower, sounding better with repeated exposure, repeated listens revealing the craft in the songs and the subtlety in Nail's execution.

While the pedigree of this project is certainly strong, Inventions stands strong on its own, so although fans of Eluvium and Explosions in the Sky won't have any trouble digging into the album, being a fan of the duo's previous work isn't a part of the price of admission.

nes. Skillfully strung together by ringleader Inglish, these flights of fancy turn into a substantial party album with plenty of fun and flash.

Between the airless production, the clunky arrangements, and the songs that are bereft of hooks, the album is their worst to date by far and hopefully signals either the end of the road, or rock bottom.

The 14 songs of Under Color of Official Right see an already incredible band moving even further forward in their development, approaching the same instant classic standards of their best contemporaries and turning in their most intricate work so far.

There's warmth in Was' production and honey in McBride's voice and if the combination can sometimes result in too-sweet tea, it's nevertheless soothing.

This time the emotional waters run just as deep as the musical ones, and it stands as some of the best brainy, heartfelt pop around.

The Future's Void's often dazzling vignettes aren't quite as striking as Anderson's debut, but they show she's an artist unconfined by any one sound or perspective, and more than capable of engaging minds as well as hearts.

With music like this, the line between undercooked and overdone is a pretty fine one, but II: Void Worship shows that Pilgrim are a band more than capable of walking it with an album that's sure to find purchase with doom purists looking for something less fussy than the post-metal albums the genre influenced.

Though they might lack the minimal lyrical subtlety of the bands of that era, musically Steel Panther will scratch the itch of anyone craving a little hair metal excess.

Regardless of where you place them categorically, Malachai are deeply entertaining and Beyond Ugly shows that one more dip into the well was indeed a good move for the band.

Psychic 9-5 Club is indeed a new chapter for HTRK as they strip away nearly everything, finding unexpected strengths.

On Carter Girl, Carlene Carter has confronted the mighty legacy of the Carter Family's songbook and allowed it to strengthen her music rather than buckling under its weight, and this ranks with her finest recorded work to date.

Equal parts whimsical and despondent, it's Disintegration-era Cure wearing an Imagine Dragons hoodie that's trying to have an LCD Soundsystem, "All My Friends" moment, and while the Faint don't quite pull it off, they're all the better for trying.

So It Goes is as pure as they come, so strap in and get ready from some rich rewards and hard truths because this one returns hip-hop to a time when it was "dangerous," and in the best, most progressive way possible.

Tweens may be a little uneven, but its successes and opportunities for growth make it a promising start.

As it stands, it's a hard album to get your head around and it's a hard album to fully embrace.

In the end, what keeps Tremors from drowning in its own paralyzed sadness is the feeling that Sohn himself has defeated these dark feelings through the painstaking process of crafting an album so beautiful.

It's overflowing with excitement, optimism, and overwhelming beauty that distract you just enough to disregard the sounds of rustling footsteps behind you growing closer.

They're among the very best American punk bands of their day, and show there's plenty of snarling, howling life left in the beast after all these years.

Angel feels like a continuous, slow-motion sunset on a coastline in a dream. It's new territory for Pure X, but when the elements of '70s radio rock and Sunday-morning soul come together, it results in some of their most tuneful moments.

About Last Night shows that Sleeper Agent have diversity and ideas to spare, but the album's more mainstream approach regrettably removes much of their bite.

Ultimately, it's Faith's irrepressible enthusiasm and unbridled vocal ability that shine the most on A Perfect Contradiction, and having musicians like Pharrell and Saadiq around just works to sweeten the deal.

Grieves has stretched the possibilities of Rhymesayers-type rap with Winter & the Wolves, so kick the mopes to the curb with this one, since it understands and overcomes with extra helpings of clever and cool.