It would all add up to another listen-to-it-once bit of over-serious Americana noir if the songs weren't so good. But they're good.

Cast the Same Old Shadow ultimately crumbles under the weight of its own despondency.

Straying far from home, Tomahawk Technique isn't an awful Sean Paul album, but it is an odd one.

Exuberant and direct, the album is a refreshing change from the subtle layering of Mines, finding the band at its most musically manic while delivering its most personal lyrics to date.

Best of all, Tucker and crew rock out a lot, and in a lot of different ways, on Kill My Blues.

It's a pleasure from the get-go: a nicely ominous plucked guitar rhythm of a couple of notes is the bed for even more moody feedback wails and fading in/out arcs of feedback.

Obey the Brave's no-nonsense approach, boundless energy and verve, and catharsis-cleansing rage make the songs on Young Blood crackle with the out-of-control power of both the hungriest up-and-comers and all the institutions of power metal that came before.

Layered viewpoints, bittersweet situations, and complicated anger flow out of this articulate effort, but the sweet trick of the album is how approachable it is, living up to its title with equal shares of Mourning and Dreaming.

Sarcastic, sweet, subversive, geeky, and awkward are hard vibes to juggle, but Folds, Sledge, and Jessee manage more times than not to keep all of the pins in the air, which after more than a decade apart, is pretty remarkable.

Sometimes things get a little too sweetly sleepy, but at its best this is a handsome, enjoyable listen.

How to Dress Well still works best when Krell favors the more ethereal side of his music, blurring together his influences into something more unique.

Tomorrowland is the disruptive, chaotic, creative process of the artist revealed; it's full of frustration, anger, conviction, and excitement, all worn plainly on its tattered sleeve.

It's as fresh as any music he's ever made, and one of his very best albums.

There's something to be said for Jepsen's girl-next-door persona, which helps make Kiss one of 2012's best, and sweetest, pop albums.

Gallows finds them staying the course, delivering high-octane thrills on every track in a way that feels as if it's meant to reassure fans that Gallows are done playing around and are ready to get back to business.

Overall, though, while Mirage Rock sees Band of Horses further immerse themselves in Americana, more than anything it finds them enraptured by the simple joy of music-making.

Meat + Bone may not restore faith in reunions in general, but it does prove that this burly trio has plenty of swagger and sloppy rock and roll left in them.

While the murky atmosphere and late-night pulse of songs like "Push" and "Fast Seconds," might not immediately scream fun, there's something undeniably engaging about them.

As with most extreme death/doom albums verging on the funereal, this one requires a little patience, but the payoff is well worth it.

Her livelier numbers, of which there are quite a few, aren't exactly frivolous, but they have a pulse and plenty of color which, combined with album's concise running time, give Charmer the feel of an immediate, engaging pop record.

Bend Beyond is the most fully realized set of songs yet from Woods, and continues a lineage of each record surpassing their last.

Yet for all its contradictions and clumsiness, it's hard not to admire The Spirit Indestructible, for it is that rare thing: a major-label album that bears the unmistakably messy, human stamp of an artist.

They're veterans that know how to use their tools, so even if the raw materials may not be quite as compelling as their earliest singles, the overall craft on Battle Born is more appealing.

Breakthrough splatters so many short ideas across its 47 minutes that a front-to-back listen is wearying, like hearing a dozen erratic interludes mixed in with a handful of lengthier sketches that are no more settled.

It's weird and willfully, proudly human, a big pop album about real emotions and one of P!nk's wildest rides.

While it's not as obviously big a statement as Veckatimest was, Shields is plenty ambitious in its own right, and its complexity demands and rewards patient listening.

As always with Dinosaur Jr., underneath all that sound lie some sturdy bones, songs constructed with expert, unassuming craftsmanship and a sly wit, but it's the variety and adventure that makes I Bet On Sky something more than another excellent Dinosaur record.

Sic Alps isn't quite as flowing as its predecessor Napa Asylum, but it still does a fine job of balancing the band's increasing prowess and the sprawling, noisy mischief for which they've always been known.