Cole has yet to release a dud, but this is among her best work--somewhere between The Way It Is and Just Like You in terms of quality.

Their fourth album of 2017 may not be their most exciting of the year, but it is their strongest and shows that King Gizzard don't need any bells and whistles to make a great psychedelic splash.

While it's true that Immortal doesn’t break new ground here, it was perhaps more important at this juncture to reassert their sound to fans as they move forward in the aftermath of Abbath's departure. They not only carry on here, but sound more like their unhinged, malevolent selves than ever.

The fascinating thing about Loving the Alien is how it makes this period seem more interesting than the individual albums, and that's entirely due to the dance mixes, ephemera, and awkward live material. On these byways, it's possible to hear Bowie grapple with both his past and present in a hungry fashion and that desperation is alien to Bowie, so an immersion into this unease makes for compelling listening.

Still Slipping, Vol. 1 isn't the type of release that an artist would be likely to make at the beginning of their career. It's a labor of love requiring extensive reflection about how music and family have impacted one's life.

Keeping the industrial tradition alive in 2025, CONFLICT DLC is another satisfying effort from the Los Angeles trio.

For now, Return to Love is a fun and occasionally moving throwback, filled with nicely catchy songs, familiar sounds, and the overwhelming sense that the band's love of the '90s is being transmitted directly to the listener minus any irony and/or distance.

Taken together, they position Love Is All as one of the best post-punk revivalist groups, and arguably the equal of their influences. Whether you stand behind that statement or not, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night is as good as indie rock gets in the late 2000s.

A crisply recorded set of bouncing rockers, sweetly strummed ballads and vaguely trippy mid-tempo tracks that are full of hooks, melodies and goofy fun.

It's the group's most lived in and emotionally authentic sounding release to date; it certainly doesn't fiddle too much with the formula, but that's hardly a negative.

Bless This Mess is another chapter of U.S. Girls' consistent evolution marked by pristine production and a deft balance of hooks and soul-baring beauty, with Remy pulling off the feat of intertwining some of her most emotionally complex material with what might be her most accessible sounds yet.

High-pitched coos gatecrash the song's chorus like they've just been kicked out of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," and a harmonized keyboard solo injects a bit of the Steve Miller Band into an otherwise minimalist, Southern-styled slow jam. Such unexpected moves seem to be a new thing for Collett, and they combine to make this his strongest solo effort yet.

Though some might find it on the meek and lightweight side, many more will likely revisit Long Island Shores again and again.

Shudder to Think's zest in their return is palpable, this live recording both a fan essential and a good starting point.

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.

Although essentially a radio-ready pop aperitif and nowhere near the cultural touchstone of Beyonce's album, Reflection nonetheless works as a Revlon ad-level post-feminist girls' night out with plenty of vintage '90s R&B swagger.

Despite the relaxed, very informal nature of the playing, some deep music gets made here. While guitar freaks may have hoped for more guitar from Gunn, he's everywhere even when he's not running the show. Seasonal Hire is excellent country and Eastern.

A notion that acts as the foundation for the eight cuts on the hypnotic but illuminating Humor Risk.

The Ruminant Band is generally a happy affair, though, and cameo appearances by Califone's Tim Rutili and Jim Becker help chart the Fruit Bats' migration from bedroom side project to full-fledged band.

Her performances evoke all the anger and passion of the alt-punk heroes that inform White Lung's sound, but surpass many of them when it comes to control or the incredible clarity in her spitting, snarling delivery.

Sprout either can't or won't produce songs at the same pace as Robert Pollard, but what he does bring us is consistently pleasurable, and The Universe and Me is a lovely reminder of how many good things he brought to GbV--and how much he still has to offer on his own.

Based on the profundity of its content and the jagged beauty in its execution, Now belongs in the pantheon of culturally important works that include We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite, Eddie Gale's Black Rhythm Happening, and Sun Ra's Nuclear War.

After several years' worth of darker and more obviously thematic work like Playground in a Lake, Kiri Variations, and Daniel Isn't Real, it makes sense that he'd want to make something more eclectic and exploratory, and Sus Dog's exhilarating creativity is a testament to trusting the process.

On Bring Me Your Love Dallas Green laments, pines, and celebrates loves both won and lost, employing a dusky, electrified patina of old and new country with a tinge of soul that's miles (sonically) from his work with the post-hardcore outfit Alexisonfire.

cal Business is an afternoon barfly telling his problems to anyone willing to listen and stump up for a drink, and fortunately for listeners, this drunk has a lyric book that they'll want to spend some time with.

It's a moody, atmospheric listen that never gets quite as melancholy as it suggests and holds together better than any Rilo Kiley album to date.

The combination of bright, '80s artifice, '90s cynicism, and 2020s uncertainty here works, if the "fun" is often tinged with consternation.

Everything on Twentytwo in Blue fits together perfectly; from the songs to the sounds to the performances, it's indie rock and pop at their thoughtful, searching, sweet, and punchy best.