The overall mood of the album feels a bit broken and battered, but comes off too polished to let that feeling drive home.

The results are bustling, pastoral, indie pop that is often strangely outdoorsy and subtle--parts of Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know feel like one long song. Of course, there are standouts.

Anyone who liked "Life in Cartoon Motion's" bright, brash approach won't be disappointed by The Boy Who Knew Too Much--it's clear Mika knows exactly what he's doing.

Draw the Line is essentially another cog in the folksy wheel he's been spinning since "New Day at Midnight."

Tomorrow proves Kingston can provide a whole album's worth of pool-side entertainment even without the 'Beautiful Girls'-sized single.

Brand New may not be completely comfortable with the slow stuff, but Daisy's willingness to experiment is what makes the album so interesting, even as its furious rock songs continue to pack a punch.

Scars is a worthwhile throwback to the freak attitude that kicked off their career over a decade earlier.

Spread over 15 tracks, the combination wears thin at several points, and several songs feel more like their creator's solo work than a composite product. Monsters of Folk has moments on undeniable beauty, though, and when the musicians pitch their voices atop one another--as they do to notable effect on the gorgeous "Slow Down Jo"-the benefits of teamwork are more than clear.

When they stretch farthest away from their origins, as they do on the plodding power ballad 'Sudden Movements,' their sound takes a turn for the best.

Girls' 2009 album (simply titled Album) actually proved itself worthy of the hype upon its release.

This is a deeply focused, wonderfully colorful, and deeply expressive work that showcases a collaboration between mother and son and displays depth, strength, creativity in spades, and intense beauty.

Despite the occasional flaws, the album shows that Vernon (along with the guys in Collections of Colonies of Bees) has not only the desire to branch out but also the necessary skills.

It is quietly passionate, graceful, elegant, utterly moving, and unequivocally beautiful in its honesty and sophistication. He's realized an ambition here that is artful and singular.

Showing more than a trace of the bombast of Arm's Way, a couple of songs like 'Drums' and 'Shining' collapse under their own weight and are the only things that keep Vapours from being Islands' best work. Still, this is a welcome return to form for the band.

The songs on Us are long--most track in past four minutes--and the album can start to drag during some of the later verses, but as a statement on the health of hip-hop, it's an assured yes that all is well.

Millan's "plain jane" delivery may be occasionally sleep inducing, but it's comfort, not boredom that delivers the serotonin.

Rain Machine gives Malone an appealingly mellow yet resolutely independent identity for his solo music; even if it may not be for fans of his other projects' more accessible material, it's nice to hear a full album of what he can do on his own.

A Brief History of Love is a strong, sometimes really, really good debut, and a nice addition to the shoegaze canon.

For now there is enough energy and excitement in the sound and presentation to make Born Again Revisited sound just as fresh and invigorating as "Rip It Off."

At the Cut isn't as great a surprise as "North Star Deserter," but if you thought the brilliance of that album was a happy accident, this confirms these musicians complement each other very well and hopefully will continue to do so for a long time to come.

The delicacy and epic sweep of the Twilight Sad's first album is missed occasionally on Forget the Night Ahead, but the progress they've made is fascinating--and rewarding--to hear.

Family shows that Le Loup have really come into their own since the release of their 2007 debut.

kee is simply a fantastic listen that showcases Wainwright as both a showman and a deeply creative songwriter with a superb knack for live performance.

Somedays the Song Writes You is another choice album from one of the greatest songwriters to ever come out of the state of Texas.

This EP marks a vital point in POBPAH's artistic development, a chance to see that they aren't willing to just sit back and repeat themselves. It's a pretty good listen, too.

The resulting tunes are lush, but few are truly dense, and White Water's biggest asset is its ability to wield such a large sound without replacing the woodsy, cozy feel of Church's solo performances.

It's less of an issue to find an epochal band among them and more of one to find a band that is consistently a pleasure to listen to in its own right. Well into a decade's worth of performances and recording, Early Day Miners manage that feat again on their sixth album, The Treatment.

Prior to Backspacer, Pearl Jam wouldn't or couldn't have made music this unfettered, unapologetically assured, casual, and, yes, fun.