This is a superb album from a master of contemporary pop, and if you like a good melodic song well performed, you're going to love Hit Parade.

Mascis sounds like he's having a blast cranking up the amps with his old buddies, no matter if they're real or imaginary.

It's assuredly the group's most congruent outing, and for nice background music that's not overly engaging or challenging, Diver will satisfy your needs.

Schrader and Rice apply their take on it [minimalism as art] brilliantly throughout Jazz Mind, via a different set of goals and reference points.

There's always a sense that she and Noonan believe they're lowering themselves to sing pop music, that they are better, smarter, funnier than the music they're making...and that alienating smug entitlement is impossible to shake even when the productions are appealing, as they are through half of Hello.

Even with years between albums and the tragic loss of a key contributor, the band's sounds are more locked in, realized, and focused on the same relentless track than ever.

It's a varied yet unified set with lots of high points.

Very nicely done.

Fans of Anda Jaleo will immediately warm to this ten-song set.

While it's hard not to wish there were a surprise or two along the way, the familiar warmth certainly has its charms, too.

DZ Deathrays' roaring rawness and furied energy create a sense of momentum that makes the sound their own.

Hazlewood manages to sound resigned, lightly disgusted, heartbroken, and deathbed wise as he sings his way through these songs, none of which ever hit anywhere near an AM radio station. It's easy to be excited for more volumes in this series after hearing this one.

A fully realized summer record from the street to the beach to the campfire.

What you've got here is basically an excellent soundtrack for reading novels by unhappy authors, or for staring out the window on a drizzly day.

While the world might miss the raw energy and exuberance of their earlier work, the more precise and mature band found on Exister is still as effective, and is definitely one that fans will want to stop and catch up with.

Call Here Come the Bombs a transitional album, one where Gaz is trying out everything he always wanted to do within Supergrass but never could, and next time around he may be able to synthesize all these sounds.

I Predict a Graceful Expulsion feels like a late round in a long fight, and while it may not deliver a knockout punch, it most certainly deserves the win.

Even more so than their debut album, Gallery shows just how impressive Craft Spells can be and sets them up as the synth pop revivalists to beat in 2012.

A Joyful Noise isn't as raw or immediate as any of the Gossip's earlier albums, which makes it a bit of a grower for anyone attached to the band's previous firepower.

While Spirit in the Room matches its predecessor on a track-by-track level, it's only in those last moments that the whole package seems as thematically sound and well designed.

Heaven comes across as a more or less triumphant culmination of the Walkmen's first decade, and the fact that happiness fits the band better than anyone could have expected is just a welcome bonus.

On the surface, Valtari may seem like a step back for the band, but instead of just retreading the past, the album is one of their best; a refined display of their musical power with breathtaking dynamics and enough emotion to flood an ocean.

While Magic Hour may not be as satisfying to fans who just wanna dance as albums like Night Work and Scissor Sisters were, it should please those who enjoy the band's formidable songwriting skills as much as cutting a rug.

Words & Music turns out to be one of the band's most enriching albums, both musically and emotionally.

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats succeeds more often than it frustrates.

It's a great pop record with plenty of guts and a sense of reality that is so often missing from records that sound this fun.

With spot-on production and their most engaging material yet, Grass Widow come into their own on Internal Logic, and have given themselves enough room to grow into something more vivid and lasting than ever before.