A little fine-tuning here and a couple tweaks there and the follow-up might really be something special. Until then, Nap Eyes are solidly promising and that's a good start.

Though it might not be as substantial or as neatly tied together as No Better Time Than Now, the EP is easy to enjoy and full in form.

While First Comes the Night doesn't break any new stylistic ground for Isaak, it also doesn't hurt his reputation, and deftly reinforces his image as a glamorous, charming torchbearer for traditional pop songcraft.

In a world that's turning upside down on a regular basis, the topical EP may be just the right format for Billy Bragg's socially conscious side, and Bridges Not Walls is smart, insightful music from a man who's made such things his business for nearly 35 years.

His gentle pleadings and luring lines evoke lightheadedness, and at times lack enunciation, like he was just wheeled out of oral surgery and had his water laced with an aphrodisiac.

While TEEN have covered all of this ground before, this is some of their most cohesive and satisfying music. As its title implies, Good Fruit is the result of thriving after hardship, and its sense of accomplishment is especially sweet.

It's that feeling of needing to get out of the house and away from your family, or perhaps yourself, that We Are Scientists distill with lab precision on Lobes.

The Great Escape shows that Chris Stamey still has a faultless touch as a songwriter, vocalist, producer, and arranger, and it gently but confidently sees him adding new colors to his palette and using them well.

Cyrus' restless creativity and expert craft is a formidable combination, and at its best, Something Beautiful has a fearlessness and sensuality that could be the beginning of something exciting for her music.

Gorgeous Johnny may be too well crafted for the band's traditional-leaning fans, but its highlights are hard to resist.

Happiness Is shows that they've honed their skills, creating a beautifully crafted, well-constructed album that feels like more than merely a collection of songs, but rather an album full of soaring builds and heartbreaking collapses that lends credence to the notion that the best things come to those who wait.

No surprises, no alterations, no problem. It's reassuringly great music made by a group that know exactly what they are doing and aren't afraid to keep doing it and doing it well.

Alegrias is a breezy yet luxuriant exercise in cultural fusion with none of the setbacks: it's a quiet stunner.

Concrete is modern and polished, yet makes no attempt to disguise the influence of the Texas country tradition in its heartfelt performances.

If you sort of liked the first record but wished it was more interesting, that it had more punch of both the sonic and emotional variety, then your wishes have come true.

Given Burton and Mercer's pedigrees, it's hard not to want more from Broken Bells, but After the Disco's strongest moments suggest that their music is coming into focus.

is a spooky yet beautiful offering by one of our best musical poets; a true outsider trying to come in from the cold.

Song for song, this is better-written and harder-rocking than Cocky.

The themes of isolation, solitude and general soul-crushing existence makes it their most blatantly honest work and helps further reinforce the notion that this is their most fully realized and beautiful release to date.

In the increasingly prevalent spirit of similar trans-cultural musical interminglings in recent years, what we get never feels carefully curated, explicated, or tamed but rather refreshingly, bewilderingly alive -- an explosive flurry of rhythms, sounds, and voices.

With a sound this strong, Miglis could quite conceivably have gotten by with a series of random abstractions, but in fact her lyrics show a strong poetic sense that enhances Hundred Waters' promising maiden voyage even further.

While it's clear that Fear of Men are branching out and exploring different sounds and techniques on this album, the warmth of the first album is missing, and the songs don't always benefit from the experimentation.

Fishing Blues isn't so much an indie version of The Heist as it is a more satisfied and slow version of Southsiders. Check that one first, then come back here for a relaxed alternative.

Based on the soul-satisfying evidence of Feeling Mortal, one can only hope there are many more.

Some references to proper nouns come across as either misplaced or forced, and the set could do with fewer strained fairground-rock choruses. These shortcomings are nonetheless too rare and slight to prevent The Autobiography from being a remarkable first album.

[Cuomo's] eccentricities slip out from the cracks in his carefully constructed songs. Sinclair wisely decides to accentuate all these quirks, whether they derive from Cuomo or the band's interplay, so The White Album crackles underneath its tight presentation.

Inheritance sounds like a born-again Avett Brothers fronted by a tamer Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile), and while its homespun, home-schooled theatricality may be a bit off-putting for some, it's hard to not admire its uncalculated exuberance.

Both Lights isn't always completely on the money.