This is the satisfying return album fans have waited for, no more, and certainly no less.

Lucero are musicians and showmen at the same time, and Live from Atlanta captures both sides beautifully. If you're any kind of fan, this is essential.

Get Hurt shows that so long as they're passionate about their music, it doesn't matter where the band are getting their inspiration from, because genuinely caring about something is always compelling.

FKA Twigs' music was already so fully realized that LP 1 can't really be called Barnett coming into her own; rather, her music has been tended to since the "Water Me" days, and now it's flourishing.

Bassett and his fellow knuckle-dragging stargazers are having far too much fun to care about anyone else's perception.

Country funk, no matter how one defines it, might not be a real musical style per se, but as presented here, and in the first volume of this series, it emerges as a reminder that no musical style stands in isolation.

Through several clumsier moments, it's evident Robinson's still getting the hang of making music that translates outside clubs and festivals. Going by what he has accomplished and what he aimed to achieve here, his development should be fascinating.

A promising debut with a few flashes of brilliance, Lacuna is an appealingly summery set of songs despite a few lulls in its energy.

That I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss continues a string of strong, entirely enjoyable releases is a bonus for Sinéad's audience, but as evidenced by liner notes that proclaim "this album is dedicated to me," she's still doing it for no one but herself.

All of it fits together surprisingly well here--a satisfying, if imperfect, sampling.

The album isn't going to send chills down spines or invoke great gusts of adulation, but a couple listens will be enough to firmly establish Melted Toys as a go-to relaxation and/or meditation aid for the discerning indie pop maven.

Taken as the debut album from an entirely new band, which it should be, Wovenwar shows great promise, even if it all feels a bit familiar.

In the end, it's clear that the Arkells want to be a big band and they've put themselves out there in a big way with High Noon.

Time Is Over One Day Old is a subtle and moody work that somehow manages to keep moving forward with a mechanical precision, giving one the otherworldly, but not at all unpleasant, feeling of standing still on a moving walkway.

Ultimately, while Lewis himself remains an enigma, the music on L'Amour offers us a fascinating glimpse of a long-forgotten Canadian pop auteur.

It's this kind of focus on the ennui, the mundane tragedy that permeates many people's daily lives, that works as creative fodder for Angus & Julia Stone. Ultimately, it's that ennui, combined with the pair's heartbreaking sense of melody, that makes this album a delightfully sad yet engaging listen.

Having the songs preserved on record undercuts that intention slightly but this is still an odd, delightful collection of tunes and it's nice that non-musicians--and listeners with an aversion to homemade YouTube renditions--get to hear these now too.

End Times Undone is a fine addition to a long career of near brilliant indie rock.

Sand+Silence shows Howard and Crisp are committed to keeping this band alive, and the album confirms they're still an uncommonly smart and talented indie pop band with a great deal to offer.

At this stage, Body Count haven't changed much, and really aren't likely to, which means that if you were on board with their earlier work, then Manslaughter has even more rap-influenced metal to fuel your rage. However, if you weren't sold on these guys in the first place, this album isn't likely to change your mind.

Yesterdays is a heartfelt memorial to a fallen comrade as well as a reminder that Pennywise remember their roots well, and haven't lost sight of the ideas and ideals that drove them.

While the music, all weepy pedal steel, soft piano, finger-picked electric and acoustic guitars, and on-the-nose handclaps, points to the West Coast, Johnson's lyrical tone is one of firm yet agreeable Midwest stoicism, all self-effacement, polite disagreement, and weary acceptance of one's place in the world.

Spider Bags didn't seem like a band that would welcome maturity, these songs show they're growing into it in their own slightly sloppy way.

For quite some time, it has been obvious that RX Bandits have wanted to be more than just a ska band, and on Gemini, Her Majesty, they appear to have evolved into something else altogether, and though some veteran fans might miss the old sound, there's no denying these guys have the chops to pull off this new and inventive approach.

Perhaps it'd be better to sample this ten-disc travelog in pieces--perhaps that's the only way to listen to a box as large as this--but each individual installment provides its own peculiar, satisfying pleasures and, when combined, all the discs paint a deep, detailed portrait of a rocker unlike any other.

The great tracks are incredible and the rest are not too bad, but Being is strong enough as a whole to offer hope that Mozart's Sister is a project still finding its voice, with even better work ahead.

McLagan's easy but powerful groove makes United States another satisfying episode in the life and career of a true rock & roll believer.

Cold World is an example of what Daptone and the retro-soul crowd are doing right, and it's an authoritative and affecting piece of work.