The album is riddled with pretty hooks that are buried under interesting complexities.

In an album of mixed results, there are enough brilliant moments that bode to a more meaningful lyrical side for Rateliff and his powerful band, which has a knack for infectious grooves and hooks.

Fans of Mr. Bungle and Patton’s wilder/heavier tendencies may not find a lot here, as the project skews more towards the Avett Brothers side of the house.

Thematically, it sounds fairly cohesive, but the songs themselves, lyrically, vary from solid to great, to moments of cloying sentimentality. That’s not to say that Heavy Glory is a bad record, just one that’s a bit more challenging than Iceage fans may have come to expect.

On Happiness Bastards the brothers Crowe retreat to their safer classic rock roots with efforts that gun for mid-70’s arena swagger, falling short of the band’s prime, a touch uninspired and derivative of their best work.

Hellfire is a decent album, one where on at least half the tracks come from the Black Midi we remember, always on the cusp of something brilliant and humbling and confounding in the best way possible. On the other half though, they are lost in their own precision, echoing their better work and confusing ability with purpose.

While the highs on the album are high, the lows are apparent and hard to ignore. There is a battle between the band’s influences and their own vision for their sound which leaves them with a batch of great ideas that weren’t executed to their full potential.

Second Line is another strong turn from Richard, a successive trip through the different styles that have made up her evolution over the years. ... Her problem is in her execution of Second Line, an album that feels more scattershot the revolutionary. It doesn’t necessarily feel like regression but for an artist who has consistently topped herself, it falls short.

Twenty-five years into it, Jurado can still write compelling, emotionally powerful songs driven by little more than his commanding voice and a stripped down acoustic guitar. But the unevenness of this record makes it a hard entry point for those unfamiliar with his work. Longtime fans of Jurado can still find enough to rally behind this one.

The result is a mixed collection; some good, some a little more tedious, but in the end, you can’t deny that Ramirez stayed true to his objective and didn’t skimp on real emotion in the process.

Though an uneven collection taken as a whole, Dream Into It still boasts enough songs to convince you that the sneering, charming Idol is not quite ready for the retirement home yet.

This simplicity is what first brought them to national attention and this collection of seven tracks is solid, but feels like a regression for a band who was just stepping out of their comfort zone. The dynamite harmonies and strong acoustic playing is still there, but nothing presented on the EP is must-hear.

Overall Covers is a mixed bag containing strong song choices, but very few must-hear offerings from the artist who will always dig the crates for new covers to unearth.

Most of the madcap antics work, while other moments are exciting failures. While it’s not an easy album to digest, it’s fun for those who enjoy the experimental process.

The collection of songs is ambitious – at times brilliant and other times tedious. But you can’t accuse The Avett Brothers of simply rerecording the same album over and over again.

Though the album is unequivocally emotionally rich, with most songs building to vibrant climaxes after mellow beginnings, as a whole it lacks the power, swagger, and singalong aspects of vintage soul records.

Moving in a lot of directions, That Delicious Vice proves that Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds are willing to experiment with sound and scope to deliver their tunes, even if not all their outings are successful.

Like all of the band’s reunion releases, The Night The Zombies Came is a mixed bag overall. Some heavier offerings, slightly off-kilter rock, acoustic strums, and larger sounds add to the musical range. It ends up as a serviceable rock record that never sniffs the heights of their early career classic output.

Everything from future horror movie soundtracks, to thrash blasts of rage, to smoky 70’s fuzz flows out of Arrows and while the overall result is a bit hit or miss, Red Fang returns back to their sweet spot; recording together for the simple love of playing heavy music.

On the band’s newest release, Open Door Policy, The Hold Steady moves to fully incorporate Finn’s more muted solo offerings, and the result is a disjointed transitional work.

Lyrically Batiste plays it middle of the road, not to offend, and at times that hollowness can seem like a bad parody. ... That title, World Music Radio, pledges a larger scope of sound which Batiste is certainly capable of incorporating, but too often different genres get a quick cameo before Batiste goes back to the dance-ready pop tracks.

A move to a more polished sound was desired and clearly achieved, yet tracks like “Moment of Joy” and “The Way” both seem to suffer from this newer clean style. “Moment of Joy” lyrically yearns to break out of its mellow musical world while “The Way” simply has too many ideas getting crammed into one song.

At its best, the music accentuates the songs’ difficult subject matter. At other times, it becomes monotonous, with the immersive layers distracting and turning into a wash of indistinguishable noise.

It is in the opener and closer where perhaps the most interesting experiments lie. Cobb opens with “Beyond Measure (Piano),” a solo piano number that sounds almost demo-like and starts the album on odd footing, but the closing “Beyond Measure (Fixin’s)” brings the whole band back to the track. Perhaps combining those two efforts in Neil Young-like fashion could find a successful middle ground between Cobb’s rock and Americana urges.

Lyrically, this is mixed but has its strong points. Few write with his kind of insight. Yet, musically it fails to generate enough sparks with most of the songs stuck in similar mid-tempo modes. The true ballads are strong.

Radiate Like This floats along in the vein of 2016’s Heads Up as the former art-rockers wander in semi-aimless, sleepy pop waters. Warpaint’s dreamy vibe is pleasant, starting with the ambient-looking cover art, but it doesn’t leave any real lasting impact.

Burnett is not a fan of technology, modern trends, or much of anything in general in the despondent middle offering of his trilogy. As a result, The Invisible Light: Spells oozes a murky uneasiness that floats throughout the album.

It’s also overly self-serious, an album begging to be considered above its pretentions and to be analyzed as art. For the most part, it works. It works as a piece of baroque chamber art and it works like a flip side to Hercules & Love Affair, a testament to the pair’s virtuosity. Still, it’s frustrating that with so many talented musicians collaborating on this project, it can feel like a missed opportunity.