You could hardly spend a pleasanter half an hour than drifting to these slackly tuneful, drivingly rock rhythmed, 1960s-esque songs.

It’s a calm, beautiful oasis in Mascis’ coruscating career path, prettier even, because of the carnage before and after.

This album is more grounded in sounds recognizably made by physical instruments. It’s also, in places, openly archaic in its devices and treatments.

Everything is sharp and lucid and full of impact.

The Bug can still shock, and with so many highlights here, it’s hard to complain.

They’ve created one of the most haunting and terrifying metal albums since the legendary Khanate broke up.

More even-tempered than almost any of their previous efforts, it’s their most consistent full-length since Realistes.

Most of what’s here isn’t memorable, but there is a steady flow of moments so ersatz that it is oddly listenable.

This is a hard record to get a hold on, but its vapors make you dizzy.

This is no victory lap around the baptismal fount, but rather a document of spiritual struggle and hard-won artistry.

With Shattered, he isn’t just showing today’s garage-rock young guns he’s still got it. He’s showing them how it’s done.

The aesthetic is head-scratching; ideas are stunted and unreadable as themes unless you look at the music as an arc. But the duo is clever enough to generate an initial sonic mystique that makes you long to figure out exactly what you’re listening to. And that’s the mark of a lasting record.

End Times Undone is another exceptional album from an artist who doesn’t seem to make any other kind.

Past Life Martyred Saints was a ferociously personal record in a way that people responded to, but The Future’s Void is just as intense, even though it takes on almost entirely new subject matter and methods.

Dereconstructed poses a challenge and stands defiant, and it works surprisingly well as the unexpected convergence of a number of long-running cultural traditions.

Presley works quickly--he says he went into the studio with more than 100 possible songs--and without much intermediation between idea and finished piece. This process seems to allow him to absorb many different influences (1960s psych, freak folk, children’s stories, his life), filter them through some subconscious prism, splitting them out as almost but not quite recognizable rainbow colors

This one is an expression of respect to people whose work shaped his, as well as grateful a shout-out to a few pals who haven’t passed yet.

Model of You is neither sparse nor overstuffed, relying on a few, highly polished elements to make up each song and allowing each of them ample space to unfold.

The songs are best when they say the least, implying depths that are, perhaps, mostly in the listener’s head.

The sound is open and uncluttered, rare for a genre that relishes tangles. There’s lots of liquid synths, and were they gracing a 4/4 thump, they’d have an Ibiza glow to them.

Third Time to Harm is a visceral pleasure, celebrating brawn over brains and shout-along choruses (“What pretty parasites!”) over songwriting complexity.

Amid the brightness and snark of another consistently entertaining Fujiya & Miyagi record, it’s a reminder that even our modern Lucifers have many dimensions to them.

Beauty & Ruin is Bob Mould’s catchiest, most tuneful album since Copper Blue, full of ear-wormy melodies and bouncy hooks.

It’s clearly the best Young Widows record.

There are differences around the edges that are making Fresh & Onlys ever more interesting, fresher and more singular, a better version of what they have been promising all along.

Seek Warmer Climes is still more visceral than cerebral. It washes over you in a foul, cold, gritty spray, and you can hardly breathe when it’s coming straight at you.

Admittedly, this is a record with a specific style and set of concerns: if you don’t like your post-punk hyper-focused and with Van Morrison-levels of nods to mysticism, you may lose patience with it quickly. For those who appreciate the iconoclasm involved, however, there’s plenty to savor here.

Sugar and spice and everything twisted, Daniel continues to write music for people who like to think about why they like something and can appreciate creative, sincere homage.