Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair shows Grooms delivering an ambitious album where simple familiarity would have sufficed.

With the exception of Lil Durk's two verses, Thugga's extensive assortment of guests here falls flat, causing the second half of the tape to drag.

Phair is at her best when she confidently picks a lane. Soberish is uneven because of her indecision, but it's still her best album since 1998's Whitechocolatespaceegg.

In shedding the shackles of expectation, FIDLAR finally found their soul.

Despite the massed personnel, nothing sounds cluttered or excessive.

On The Sunset Violent, Mount Kimbie throw things at the wall and see what sticks — those flung with high velocity make the most impact.

While Until In Excess lacks a genuine revelatory moment, it's their most overall consistent and accessible album thus far.

Wait to Pleasure is a marked improvement on their debut that demonstrates No Joy's capacity as sonic adventurists capitalizing on the advantages of a studio environment.

It's unburdened by obligatory connections to what's come before and as a result, has a renewed amount of energy.

There are more questions here than resolutions, making Eat, Pray, Thug a thinking person's record, but that's a good thing, especially now that he's speaking to his largest audience yet.

Though eschewing the (mild, but still present) domestic theatrics of their earlier works for more wizened fare may have muted their immediate impact, their knack for immersive melodies and grooves keep things compelling.

The rawness of the band puts them in a different category than other soul revivalists like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, but the visceral quality of Boys & Girls gives Alabama Shakes an edge.

Miracle Temple is still a wonderfully warm and welcoming record, but it never soars.

Unfortunately, The Official Body remains confined to rudimentary rock arrangements and rigid structures. It doesn't reconcile these contradictions until its final three tracks, which makes for restless, if brief, listening in its middle entries.

Despite the EP's virtues, that's a lot of excess fluff for a collection with just five tracks.

Though it's far from perfect--the Balkan folk-inspired "The Everlasting Muse" and lounge-y "Perfect Couples" weigh the back half down just a little--Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a statement record that Belle and Sebastian are still expert songwriters, with more than a few musical cards left to play.

If you ask me, this is the most punk thing Iceage could've done at this point--and arguably the best thing they've done, period.

Vital, vibrant, and necessary, Luciferian Towers is a stunning addition to Godspeed's storied catalogue.

Songs Cycled is a striking reminder of Van Dyke Parks' songwriting strength and deft arranging touch (see the reworking of his classic "The All Golden") for those already in the know; for others, it might just make the perfect introduction to a legend so ahead of his time that his 1968 masterpiece is just now getting its due.

On its own, this album is a solid addition to an impressive back catalogue, but the fact that it's part of a triple-run of releases only adds weight to it.

Invitation can be a tough record to puncture. The shadowy soundscapes--thick layers of keys and strings with, oftentimes, thunderous percussion additions-- sometimes overpower Broderick's soft vocals.

The record is an achievement of pop-house production, and Jayda's performance throughout is earnest and enthralling — It's a strong effort and vital evolution in her ever-shifting career.

Calm, cool and collected, Fresh Air is a record you'll have playing in the background while you light a candle, anticipating your lover's knock at the door--or something like that.

One True Pairing is not an easy listening record, despite its pop structures. Fleming is stark in his observations, yet he has woven hope in amongst the despair, creating a body of work that serves as a way through difficult and tumultuous emotions.

Content Nausea reasserts Parkay Quarts as talented musicians able to deliver successive releases that are far more accomplished than many other big label garage-rock albums.

Ash still generate radio-friendly tunes on Kablammo!, but they lack the depth that they demonstrated at their peak, and sound a little like they're merely repeating their post-millennial releases at this point.

She's produced an inspired disc that never lets up.

On the whole, PREY//IV expresses a dance-when-you're-sad energy that Glass and Kath never quite achieved with Crystal Castles, and that Kath and Glass stand-in Edith Frances have yet to capture since the enigmatic former frontwoman's departure.