It could be argued that Brooks trades intensity for pleasure on The Grand Tour, but as the album moves from dazzling to serene and back again, he sounds more assured than ever.

A deep, heady trip, No Time is a step forward for Soft Walls that builds on the debut's strengths and suggests even more potential for Reeves' future solo outings.

It's not the Scotland of Walker's shortbread and red-bearded pipers that so often gets shoveled out to tourists, but a moving portrait of strong-willed people enduring in times of change.

The Phantom Band's material is of a higher grade and their eclectic sonic blend only adds to this strength.

After eight albums that synthesize post-rock, home-listening electronica, and dub, the trio otherwise aren't up for much of a shakeup in their approach. None of the remaining seven instrumentals is novel, but they're all enjoyable on some level, cunningly shaped as ever.

It's a shame that such a vanguard effort is weakened by a few clever and jokey interludes that don't warrant a return, but that just leaves Shabazz Palaces room for a proper masterpiece as the brilliant Lese Majesty is so very close.

It's all perfectly pleasant and a convincing testament to what Clapton learned from Cale, although its silvery monochromatic shuffles suggest J.J. was a little more one-dimensional than he actually was.

Ultimately, with Chaidez in spotlight, Kitten is an album of swaggering dance club passion that aims to move your soul as much as it does your feet.

Joyce Manor make 20 minutes feel way more epic than the running time might promise, and Never Hungover Again ends up as the kind of record that feels like an instant classic.

This is a surprisingly, satisfyingly vigorous record.

On The Voyager, Lewis' characters live for today without ever thinking that the world might pass them by, and having her music flow so smooth and easy, she illustrates how easy it is to get sucked into that alluring stasis.

Whoop Dee Doo is the Muffs playing near the top of their game.

It's a nifty record: a double-edged throwback, evoking the singer/songwriters of the '60s but sounding like a different part of that decade, which is why its retro-ism winds up as invigorating.

Here we get her bright, puckered vocal attack showcased on a bevy of instantly infectious cuts.

Pick any track off The Golden Age of Glitter, drop it into the middle of the Dazed and Confused soundtrack, and not only would it fit, you'd probably turn it up. That's a serious compliment for this particular band.

This debut album is pretty good, and this band shows a lot of heart.

Such overwhelming softness means The Morning works best as mood music, setting the tone for either a lazy day in bed or a productive day at work, or any number of activities that take place during the hours of breaking dawn.

Overall, this is a generally charming debut with a very stylized sound and some solid material within.

If anything, Freeman is a tighter record than McCartney--it's not homemade, it's all complete songs--but there's no denying it shares the same spirit; that it is the sound of breaking dawn of a new day.

As a whole, Upright Behavior is a lot to digest, and whether or not listeners will find enough incentive to spend time cracking Landlady's code depends purely on their appetite for this type of challenging indie rock.

Counterfeit Blues is a rough-hewn, hardcore country revelation.

It might be easy to take The Raveonettes for granted, or to cast them aside in favor of the latest flavor of the month. Like the rest of their 2010s output, the strength and near-brilliance of Pe'ahi show clearly what a mistake it would be to do either of those things.

It's beautiful and thoughtful work from musicians who remind us art can be stark and simple and still find ways to charm and move the listener.

They are ruthlessly efficient, unmerciful, redundant, triumphant, and wholly invested in darkness, volume, destruction, and little else.

If there is a heaviness--an emotional weight that seems to be bearing down upon Christian and Anberlin throughout Lowborn--chalk it up to a band nearing the end of an almost 15-year career. However, despite this heaviness, Anberlin have crafted an album of deeply emotive and, one imagines for longtime fans, cathartic songs.

Musically, Charmer is a more polished and pop-oriented album than most of Tigers Jaw's previous work, but the core of their melodic style has changed little, and the moody urgency of the lyrics is as strong as ever.

The album is a lean, mean machine of singalong revolution songs and baggy jeans dance music from folks old enough to be wearing fitted by now, but the hunger to survive and flourish is as palpable as it was on their debut.

La Petite Mort is a quality release and a welcome return for a band that refuses to sit down.