The result is an absolutely vicious, fearless record.

Even in its weighty moments, the simple melodies, infectious hooks and liberal dashes of humour will keep your spirits up from start to finish. Good For You is a satisfying, well-rounded effort.

At 20 years old, Allison is only just getting started, and Collection is a tidy introduction to Soccer Mommy that points towards her vision of bringing her contemplative songwriting to a more potent and energizing level.

Lyrically, Newman continues to play games that amuse him, but the logical and narrative backflips might be too much this time.

Call It Love is an enticing work, but despite its many pleasing qualities, it doesn't quite stand out from the oversaturated electronic dream-pop scene.

In just under a half-hour, the band tear apart any notion that punk music can no longer be inventive or groundbreaking; Dead Cross brings life back into the genre.

The smooth way in which Alexander's voice blends between shifting country and soul backgrounds demonstrates versatility, and his clear and accessible vocal delivery helps tie together these different strands like a good leader.

Tyler's most musically and lyrically focused effort to date.

Spooky Action is an incredibly simple record that's rescued by a primal energy and emotional output that artists half Loewenstein's age wished they possessed.

For the relative specificity of thematic focus, Hip Mobility is varied in its sound. More than just mining the past for interesting artifacts, Quindar have created something surprisingly new here, and in having done so, project their art into the future.

The evolution can sometimes be clunky, like on "A-Ok" and "People Are Pets," when Thomson's vocal venom and the band's brash tendencies clash in some ways with the songs' brighter moods. But with "Leash" and "Bolt Cutters," they find a softer side that works quite well; each is lifted by a nicely harmonized chorus, and beneath the blown-out speakers is timeless songwriting that could be stripped down to the bones and still stand on its own.

There's no song on Black Mile like "Wolves at Night" or "April Fool," the kind of high-energy howler fit for an EA Sports game, but their efforts have paid off with an artistic triumph, the kind worth regarding as a creative masterwork among their collection.

Crenshaw is a deeply funky jazz record with a sensibility that incorporates the best of this L.A. neighbourhood's long fascination with hip-hop and R&B. It captures the full breadth of the region's rich musical history. ... This is, at the very least, the record of the summer. For some, it might just be the record of 2017.

They're not back at their best, but on Everything Now, Arcade Fire once again sound like the world-beaters they were on The Suburbs without forgoing the acidity, swagger and scope of Reflektor.

Amid soulful, R&B-indebted sounds married smoothly to the more country-leaning, Atkins has created her best and most resounding work yet.

Spending time with this dreamscape of a collection--and it's definitely worth spending time with--unveils themes of masculinity and, especially, femininity, all the quiet dangers associated with womanhood, whether it's "Flash Company" or the complex dynamic between rapist and pregnant victim in "Bonnie May."

Oyamada's work as Cornelius over the past 20 years has defied genre, logic and time; on Mellow Waves, it sounds like he's on cruise control.

Eucalyptus finds Portner going back-to-basics, taking listeners on a psychedelic but steady trip over 15 tracks with atmospheric and shifting samples ("Lunch Out of Order" Pt. 1 and 2), Sung Tongs-style guitar work ("Jackson 5," "PJ" and opener "Season High") and spaced-out instrumentation (the twisted "Boat Race" and lo-fi drone of "Dr aw one").

Soulful yet sensational, Fabriclive 93 is a consuming mix that marks the intersection of Snaith's dance floor personas--and powerfully so.

Jungle Rules is full of summer vibes, and makes a perfect addition to not only Frenchie's catalogue but any summer playlist--which is to say it was worth the wait.

Howling, for the Nightmare Shall Consume is a landmark release for long-time metal miscreants Integrity, and a brave, brutal new direction for Hellion's life project.

The constant vitriol is made scarier by his choice to rap in a stuporous, incantatory monotone. The music here--forbidding snares, honking staccato keyboards--is same-y but effective.

She reveals a heretofore-unheard level of ambition as she expands her pop palette and worldview. In trying to put a wall between herself and her audience, she's opened a new, far more revealing side to her music and herself.

Though the fanfare surrounding the band may have dwindled slightly, the heartfelt emotion they deliver has not.

As musically fun and riff-heavy as it is lyrically direct and meaningful, Need to Feel Your Love is exactly the debut album fans wanted from Sheer Mag--not to mention one of the best of 2017 so far.

If you dig deep enough, it's an album filled with surprises from a band that continue to impress.

These musicians understand that heaviness is most effective when balanced by some light, making their debut both inventively punishing and soaring.

Unsurprisingly, the results are some of Crutchfield's biggest rock'n'roll anthems yet.