The combination of intelligent and punchy songs, the sympathetic production, and Lerche's winning vocals make this a strong follow-up to Heartbeat Radio and further proof that Lerche doesn't need to mess around trying different things to keep people interested.

Casablanca Nights should serve as an inspiration to producers everywhere as an example of how to do an "And Friends" record the right way. For the rest of us, it's a thrilling blast of heartbreak beats and sweet club emotion.

That Tanukichan have come up with an album that sounds original and true while bringing deep emotions along for the ride is truly something worth commending.

Strong hooks abound on a true collaborative effort that officially passes the mantle to trad rock.

At its best, Names of North End Women is a beautiful creative rebirth.

Taken together, The Power of Rocks is a pleasantly puckish jumble -- which in this case may well mean mission accomplished.

Trailer Trash Tracys' try-anything attitude overpowers the actual songs, but that doesn't stop Ester from being a fascinating and often haunting debut that just whets the appetite for more.

All the supporting work is understated and studious, ideally compatible with Carner's substantive ruminations.

Uneasy Laughter is a riskier proposition than Moaning's first album, but it demonstrates their tremendous growth, both as a band and as humans.

Morrissey isn't living up to what he should do, he's doing whatever he wants to, whether it makes sense or not. That fearlessness may be reckless but it's also welcome.

While the two don't always match up exactly in terms of presentation, by the end, Byrne's nerdy rock and Veloso's airy sonnets prove highly complementary to each other, especially in tandem.

Packed full of confident exploration, sonic wizardry, expert guitar manipulation, and tight songcraft, this album of "leftovers" is as good as most of their contemporaries' best work.

Liima still recognizably sounds like Efterklang, but it seems like there's less pressure for them to construct a monumental statement here, and the group seem to enjoy their freedom.

“number one girl” and “drinks or coffee” address unrequited love and ‘talking stages,’ “3am,” “Gameboy,” and “toxic til the end” see ROSÉ weaving around red flags, and “too bad for us” and “dance all night” finish the cycle with post-breakup mourning and the search for closure.

Ti Amo's first half is one of the band's most consistent stretches of songs since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but the wispiness of its second half delivers mixed results.

No matter the setting, Corgan peddles heartfelt prog rock and here, when his songs are shorn of solos and kept at a human scale, his imagination feels immediate and bracing--and also a natural way for this once angry young man to ease into middle age.

While it's a little uneven, Dance Mother is often fascinating, and a big step forward for Telepathe without losing what made them distinctive in the first place.

White and company make almost no concessions to their audience, and fewer songs stand out here than they did on Horehound. And yet, this is a more satisfying album overall. Fortunately, Sea of Cowards' mysteries are more intriguing than frustrating.

This pair of grizzled old vets, together with their seemingly indestructible, mutton-chopped leader, still constitute a formidably powerful and a well-oiled rock & roll machine, there's no doubt about that. And that's one thing that certainly has been repeated many times over on most every Motorhead album, The World Is Yours more successfully than others.

The result is an album that gets the mind/body balance just right, and shows Ume are paying off on the potential of their earlier work.

A wandering, fuzz-cloaked journey that has fingerprints of the best qualities of their Austin music brethren -- the fiery energy of Trail of Dead, the druggy exploration of Charalambides -- as well as of classic rock and college rock favorites, and is presented in a way that feels familiar but has been thoughtfully crafted to obscure those fingerprints into something new.

Minimum Rock N Roll is spare but solid, and offers some real rock & roll kicks along with a dash of radical food for thought, something in short supply on the indie scene in this day and age.

Burned Mind isn't just Wolf Eyes' most cohesive album, it's also their most accessible.

Everybody's Everything is sometimes inconsistent, but it offers a complete picture of how quickly Lil Peep's short career ramped up from making tracks with friends to worldwide fame and influence.

This is a surprisingly strong reunion, one that puts the band back on the track they abandoned long ago.

Fol Chen could probably stand to become even more accessible on their next album, but on The False Alarms, they still make listeners lean in close to hear exactly what's going on, and still leave them wanting more.

Even when Wire focuses on their not-so-classic material, they sound great in a live environment.

Human Energy is an exhilarating showcase for Stewart's continually mutating vision of abstract pop.