On first spin, Break It Yourself may sound like a typical outing, but repeated listens unveil an assembly of songs that are as verdant and mercurial as they are rooted in the Bird tradition.

Everything continues to feel heavy.

The sonic growth and confidence White Rabbits display here prove they're moving in the right direction.

Winterpills' All My Lovely Goners is a rich and often quite enjoyable listen.

It would still make for a fine, welcome, warming (and occasionally, slightly, chilling) soundtrack to never-ending nights, or any other eternity you might have handy.

The album grows stronger as its second half wears on.

Rhyton stumble through their jams oblivious and dopey, failing to fully connect with each other or take the listener to a place more exciting than a spirited jam session in the practice space.

Wrecking Ball feels cumbersome and top heavy, Springsteen sacrificing impassioned rage in favor of explaining his intentions too clearly.

One Second of Love's main issue is not one of sonic fidelity, but consistency. If the murk of earlier recordings hid some of Nite Jewel's intentions, they also succeeded in hiding slightly forced stylistic leanings.

With Open Your Heart, the Men achieve the elusive balance of growing their sound without diluting the intensity and attitude that made them great in the first place, weaving together their influences with fresh ears and a nuanced touch, making for one of the year's most satisfying listens.

Overproduction and a general (and oddly generic) sense of overarching silliness keeps the 15-track set from achieving the lovely balance of dirty wit and sincere heartache that made albums like Wayward Bus and Charm of the Highway Strip so immediate and life affirming.

We Are Augustines have created a record that gives the listeners all the time they need to explore the ideas inside without ever threatening to push them out the door, creating the life-sustaining atmosphere necessary to make Rise Ye Sunken Ships the kind of place you live rather than visit.

The Brit Award winners have suddenly gone all serious, eschewing their trademark singalong choruses and reining in the quirkiness that briefly made them one of Britain's biggest guitar bands, in favor of a more downbeat and slightly psychedelic sound that may be less annoyingly infectious but is also ultimately less fun.

Meltdown is a forceful reminder that there really is strength in numbers, and these six guys generate a powerful sound Ryan could never come up with all by himself.

Their sometimes winding songs seeming more taut than ever.

Hearing this evolution in microcosm is fascinating: few albums are ever as lavishly and carefully produced as The Wall, and by going through this "Work in Progress," it becomes clear just how much labor Floyd and producer Bob Ezrin exerted on the finished album.

Pre Language is some of Disappears' most confident, most accessible music yet.

It's all pretty smooth, sleek and, for the most part, fairly subdued.

Acting as a kind of crossroads between the old C.O.C. and the new, Corrosion of Conformity feels more like a distillation of their career than an evolution of their sound.

Lovett is relaxing into the songs and sounds he loves, and he hasn't sounded like so much fun in years.

Bones is undeniably still a solid follow-up that should consolidate their second-tier status, but they'll have to change the record next time around if they want to move into U.K.'s alt-metal big league.

If some songs breeze by without sticking, other songs like the two-part "Point of Go," split between a calmer and a more energetic section defined by the drumming, stand out.

With this album, Windy & Carl are more controlled, focused, and confident than ever before, offering up their best work to date in an evolution that may just prove to be without limits.

The album as a whole abounds with effective, intriguing atmospherics. It's just that, for all its potential, Fin is merely fine.

While Learning's haunting storytelling remains singular, Hadreas is as brave an artist as ever, and Put Your Back N 2 It is a heartening follow-up in so many ways.

Sleigh Bells may have topped themselves here, but it's a case of more being less.

Black Radio creates an entirely new context for popular music in its near erasure of boundaries. It is the sound of the future--even if no one knows it yet.

Taken as a whole, Ternion is a strong step forward for the band, one that takes them to the front of the line of bands looking to re-create the sounds, and more importantly, the feel of classic synth pop.