On tracks like "Point Me At Lost Islands," where weather metaphors share equal space with acoustic guitars and fiddle solos, the group manages to shake out the doldrums and hit a genuine stride. But the rest of the album doesn't flow so well, and The Place We Ran From winds up amounting to far less than the sum of its parts.

While its relentless chirpiness may be a little too twee for some, Eliza Doolittle is still a beguiling debut that would undoubtedly have found an audience even without the benefit of her showbiz background.

Mostly, Talent works as an overall experience with loads of rich sonic atmosphere, hummable melodies, and artfully restrained emotion. Quite the impressive debut.

On their Dogs Eating Dogs EP, blink-182 return as a deeper, more mature-sounding band.

Ultimately, the EP lives up to its name, offering reflections on A U R O R A that enhance that work and are compelling in their own right.

As was the case with Hills End, the sonic and architectural puppetry is meticulous and heartfelt, but the absence of any sort of innovation induces a sort of pleasant fatigue that grows decidedly less agreeable with repeated spins.

Happily, he retains the melodic sharpness that characterized 57th & 9th, his last solo album of straight-forward pop tunes. The Bridge isn't quite as crisp and clean as that 2016 effort, yet it moves along at a quick clip.

Last Year Was Complicated feels assured in a way its eponymous 2014 predecessor did not.

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."

She's never been more as completely herself on record as she is here.

Somewhere in between his rich, weathered baritone and his self-deprecating lyrics, the listener is charmed into submission, and it all goes down like a perfectly sessionable ale, albeit one with peculiar origins.

For his second album, also released on Warp, Rustie indeed slows it down a bit and peels away some layers, but he does so without making any concessions to politeness.

While weeding through the wreckage of science, sociology, and religion for the quivering individual may seem like heavily guarded Radiohead territory, Dredg pulls it off with the human heart still intact. At 18 tracks, it can be a lot to swallow, but keep in mind that many of these are transitional pieces and rarely overstay their welcome.

While a totally pleasant album not too far removed from the dense sound they've been working in, the dour sentiments are barely hidden below the softly spacy atmospherics, and when they do pop out, the combination of ugly hard times and pretty music can be unsettling.

Go Away White sounds like the four were trying one last time to reclaim the idea of Bauhaus as band and ethos from all the many limiting clichés heaped on it, something which the album title, taken from the song "Black Stone Heart," slyly hints at.

Tindersticks see this anniversary celebration as a reflection of who they are as a band now, rather than merely as a reflection of their past.

Overall, it's a pretty somber affair, conjuring up images of humid, ashtray-filled midnights spent gazing out of a tenth story window, contemplating whether or not the fall would kill or just cripple you.

Thankfully, Kevin Shields puts together some great guitarscapes in Evil Heat -- maybe the best work he's done post Loveless. It's what saves this record, since Bobby Gillespie (as usual) tries to ruin some of these tracks with some pretty silly lyrics.

Stephin Merritt's the 6th's second album isn't nearly as dynamic as his Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, nor is it quite as good as the first 6th's album, Wasps' Nests. It is, however, another crowning achievement for Merritt.

Not one weak track, not one misplaced syrupy ballad to ruin the groove. The winning streak continues.

This French-Swiss duo pumps out retro-'80s-style disco beats and silly lyrics, creating a fun, goofy, ironic vibe that is sure to be a hit in Europe and perhaps in America.

Unlike many other pop postmodernists, the Vines never sound weighed down by all the influences they include in their music -- it's as if they're so excited by everything they hear, they can't help but recombine it in unique ways.

This is her most focused and accomplished full-length to date.

It may not be an album that's as funny or timeless as The Transformed Man, but Has Been is every bit as bizarre.

Justified is just sound and posturing, with no core.

It's a hilarious comedy album that's just as hip, inventive, and inappropriate as their digital shorts.

While the holistic craftsmanship of Ounsworth's musicality is impressive, ultimately it's his anguished, romantic vocal croon that sticks with you on The Tourist, ever dichotomously imbued with both a deep sense of loneliness and a pop-centric sense of self-determination.

The remarkable thing is, for as proudly new wave as Move Like This is, it doesn't feel desperate or cautious: it's as bright, infectious, and tuneful as the Cars at their prime.