At times, Wolfmother's unintentionally bizarre amalgams are kind of delightful, and the group does have a basic, brutal sonic force that is pretty appealing, but even at their best, they never banish the specters of the bands that they desperately mimic.

The whole album is pop on the one hand but pop of a self-consciously other kind, transformed from easy hooks and direct flow into an arch blend of past and present, something where 1981, 1993, 2001, and 2012 recombine and intertwine.

Haines is still a force of nature, more Uriah Heep than David Copperfield, and his sharp-tongued critiques, especially of his chosen field, though tempered with moments of sentimentality, remain as volatile as ever.

While plenty of folks might pick up Dungeon Golds because some well-known musicians are on board, even with a cast of unknowns Scott McCaughey would still be writing fine songs and singing them with heart and humor, and that's what makes Dungeon Golds worth your time.

While the added mainstream polish, hooky melodies, and guidance from blink-182's bassist do make No Grace sound distinctly like a big pop-punk record, PAWS' attitude here is ultimately more sober as they trade in some of the wit and exuberance of their earlier outings for more adult-oriented themes.

The album is a challenging listen but there's plenty of craft here, making it an improvement upon their debut.

The Notwist blends all of these sounds and eras together organically and with an excitement that suggests they'll never tire of finding different ways to combine their pop and experimental sides in concert as well as the studio.

With Popular Manipulations, the Districts make their first grand statement, setting a new bar for themselves in the process.

Anenon's music sometimes seems to explore contrasts, but it does so in a manner that is easy to follow and absorb, and his music ends up being relaxing rather than challenging.

Among Ras G's more contemplative releases, Stargate Music is a woozy, enticing interpretation of the human life cycle.

Happiness Begins feels immediate in way so many big pop albums of the twilight of the 2010s do not, but individual tracks are crafted to slide onto as many cross-genre play lists as possible.

The effect of his well-matched partners' work is only a little less intoxicating than it is on the preceding numbers.

Birding delivers listeners back to populated, earthbound spaces with the warm piano and wind chimes of its instrumental title track. It makes for an exquisite and fitting debut for the Bella Union label.

Pharrell Williams is on the couple's perseverance anthem "Work on It," a wobbly ballad, while Illangelo was involved with "Holy War," where some dulled drums interrupt a mostly acoustic number about backward societal views of war and sex. These songs, like a fair portion of the album's remainder, are not lacking in energy or conviction, but they're raw as in crude.

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

Out Hud have, in a roundabout way, developed into the most original dance band on the planet.

It's a remarkably coherent and listenable album that goes down very smooth, but not without the occasional moment of real emotion or foot-tapping fun.

A deeply poetic record.

Here, the pre-recorded sequences of fan favorites "DVNO," "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy," and "D.A.N.C.E." are born again; flipped and redecorated with aggressive house beats to the point that they feel fresh, but they still retain enough familiarity to get fists pumping and mouths singing along.

The Dangerous Summer may not be original, but it is available.

Instrumentals 2015 feels like a successful reinvention after such a lengthy absence, but at the same time, it could've been beamed in at any point during FSA's existence, as its elemental, bare-basics construction isn't beholden to any trends, and therefore it feels timeless.

Through it all, Kasher offers affecting material that's persistently tense but also loose and lively.

It's not a fun listen by most metrics, but investing some time in its lonely chill eventually reveals a deeper side of DeMarco's musical vision, one of slow rumination that's just as valuable as the combustible spark of his earlier days.

My Morning Jacket are clearly having fun, and they're learning how to be "out there" without being outlandish.

They give the old noise pop formula enough of a kick to make this a very worthwhile addition to any noise pop fan's collection.

Random Desire doesn't necessarily sound like the Afghan Whigs in their glory days, but it does a much better job of summoning the emotional energy and musical tension that made Congregation and Gentlemen classics, and it's the best music he's made since the end of the Whigs' first era.

With Two of Everything, Brian Olive is two for two in making smart, distinctive albums that push his blues and R&B influences in unexpected, compelling directions, matching and building on the strength of his debut.

Lady from Shanghai intrigues more often than not, and shows that Pere Ubu can tap into paranoia, loathing, and the downright weird with nearly as much ease and eloquence as they did almost four decades before.