While Whirr never quite nail the Ride drum sound, MBV wooziness, or arid Slowdive mystery that they're going for on these tracks, the results are still strong, weaving a deeply textural sound that drifts along like a lazy canoe ride on the hottest day of the year.

Ultimately, the Civil Wars are impeccable craftsmen, taking weathered elements and repurposing them for something that feels new and never haunted by what came before.

Wide-eyed wonder still intact, there's a lot of depth to explore in the 30 minutes of Hobo Rocket, from bombastic glam, to chugging stoner rock, to colorful psychedelia--all of it odd as usual.

All in all, Zero is an ambitious album that's amazing not just in how well done it is for a post-hardcore concept record, but in the way it shows that Hawthorne Heights aren't afraid to take risks 12 years into a long and successful career.

More cohesive and profound at times than the records that preceded it, the album sets a tone masterfully, and lingers contentedly and without rush, allowing the listener to drop in and sit for a spell with Jones as he ruminates on his various lush instrumental moods.

Perhaps it can be too sweet, too cloying at times, but it's warm and ingratiating, suggesting The Blow Monkeys can ease into a convincing middle age.

Forward is a delightful return that focuses on the Heavies' love of smooth late-'70s/early-'80s sounds.

Although Bloodlines takes its time to get under your skin, when it does, it sinks in deep.

Perhaps the most tightly performed Joan of Arc material, Testimonium Songs feels less like a proper album and more like a sidebar, deeply aligned with the harsh tones of Reznikoff's bleak poems.

Personal Appeal, as inconsistent and slapdash as it is, probably serves as the most accurate overview of Moore's overwhelming back catalog of obscured freak-outs and cracked pop gems.

Not everything works on Imps of Perversion, but it's still a strong second album that broadens Pop. 1280's horizons without sacrificing their pummeling impact.

With Big TV, White Lies combine the urgent passions of their debut with the conceptual ambitions of their sophomore effort and by doing so, make the best album of their career.

It's an impressive debut from a very promising group.

The album's more intimate moments, such as "The Swollen Map" and "Down in the Liverpool Stream," have just as much impact as the showier ones, and reaffirm that Pinkunoizu have gained more than they lost by paring down a bit on The Drop.

Formed via a craigslist ad, the band's internal anonymity is hardly relative with regard to its cohesiveness, as each track on the brainy yet intuitive Dark Eyes sounds like the sum of its parts, but there is enough space between those parts to suggest a sort of unspoken agreement to avoid any sort of showboating.

Despite being a shade too long, this is a solid endeavor that asks many questions even as spins its tales.

Perpetual Surrender's highlights might have had more impact if they were collected on an EP, but DIANA have a unique enough perspective--and enough potential--to make the album worth a listen for anyone who loves synth pop in any of its incarnations.

Warp & Weft displays Veirs' sophisticated songcraft (though "America" falls short for its obviousness) is adorned by diverse textures, expert musicianship, and a generous use of space; it's almost almost perfectly balanced.

By maintaining forward momentum while having so much going on in every song, the band makes Shaky Dream an album that provides plenty of depth without sacrificing accessibility, striking a fine balance between catchy melodies and murky atmospherics.

The only real misstep on the extremely likable Absolute Zero is the forgettable "Red and Blue," a perfectly good song that's ruined by an oppressive (and dated) amount of Auto-Tune, a gimmick that should never be wasted on people who can actually sing.

Dog Party may be music biz vets already, but this is their true coming-of-age moment and anyone interested in punky pop (or poppy punk if you prefer to look at it that way) should seek out Lost Control right away and stay tuned to see what the Giles sisters do in the future.

As it stands, this is a strangely seductive record, filled with remarkable musical peaks, and proof positive that an ambitious sophomore departure can be wholly satisfying.

Adiós I'm a Ghost falls somewhere between the band's critically lauded sophomore release Tidelands, which was full of thoughtful atmospherics, and the looser, rowdier debut album Don't Be a Stranger.

Hero Brother is a carefully conceived yet relaxed presentation of a fairly startling series of works that reveal the versatility and considerable creative depth of a composer/soloist who has been hiding in plain sight all along.

While his imagery-laden, generally safe distillation of American roots rock leans harder on the AOR/soft rock side of the railroad tracks, it's a train that is worth boarding for a stop or two, if only to admire the lovely view.

Although From Death to Destiny might alienate some fans, the album's more grown-up sound gives them a newfound accessibility that is sure to open them up to a whole new audience hungry for some new heavy jams.

While Allen either wrote or co-wrote all the tracks on the album, it's his stellar and flexible guitar work that is the highlight.

Carrier ends up being a remarkably balanced meditation on joy and loss, as well as one of the more nuanced albums in Dodos' body of work.