In spite of its stylistic breadth, Dolphine is a relatively effortless listen. It isn’t jarring or grating. It is unpredictable, challenging, interesting and honest, and ultimately a very satisfying addition to Mega Bog’s discography.

Gold Past Life operates almost on two levels for Fruit Bats, the sheer pleasure of making fun music that draws on the things we’ve treasured from ages past, while consciously rejecting the temptation to live forever in that space. The result is a record that is both easy to leap into, and rewarding to stay in.

The fact that the increasingly complex playing compares so favorably to the antecedents of the Allman Betts Band (including the latter-day lineup circa 2003’s Hittin’ The Note) speaks as much to the intrinsic skill of this unit as to its future potency in a more mature state.

Production from Jim Eno (founding member and drummer of Spoon) is top notch as Night Moves have crafted a smooth, lightly rippling soundtrack to the summer with Can You Really Find Me.

Despite the quality of the songwriting and the performances, there’s something about Let’s Rock that feels like the two are tying up the band and bringing their music full circle. Whatever the intent and the future of the band, Let’s Rock is a solid release that should make fans happy, whether it’s a coda or just their latest record.

While the overall tone and style fits him and the band well, the majority of songs are fine yet not particularly memorable. A Productive Cough looks like a mid-career outlier now as Titus Andronicus settle back into their pub rock punk hybrid on An Obelisk.

The ten-year hiatus hasn’t diminished anything about the Millers” unique partnership. The songs are as good as ever, Buddy still sings passionately and rips his guitar with determined fury. Julie sings as well as she ever has.

The music is textured and production exquisite as layers of sounds and instrumentation ring clear, but if there is a weakness it is that lyrically the album is lacking. White and Benson both come off as blasé at times not offering much in the way of memorable lines, disengaging while moving towards generalities.

The energy and the seamless fusing of these genres create remarkable, infectious, foot-stomping grooves that rarely relent. Instead, they threaten to explode at times.

The CRB doesn’t wholly recapture the unified sense of inspiration that earmarked their initial work, but they come close.

An album that places the idiosyncrasies of this band in such a palatable setting, listeners old and new may be rendered captive almost without their knowledge or consent.

The songs on The Traveler are tight and streamlined, with no particularly lengthy solos and little frenetic fretboard shredding. ... Instead, the focus is on good blues-based rock songs with catchy grooves, sing-along choruses, and memorable lead moments. Shepherd still shows his six-string mastery, especially on “Turn To Stone,” but he does so in much smaller doses.

Like much of what we’ve come to expect from Calexico there are plenty of textures and colorful layers in these pieces, with the bonus of Beam’s image-rich lyrics and gentle affecting vocals. It’s special.

Though Erotic Reruns doesn’t have any of the awe-inspiring moments of some of Yeasayer’s early work, it’s a solid album from start to finish, trimmed of all fat and without a bad note. A few more compositional risks would’ve served the band well, but as a whole the album finds the Brooklyn band in top form, packing its nine songs with dance-hall energy, commanding grooves, and song compositions that stretch the limits of pop music while remaining easy to digest.

Final Transmission is a touching tribute to the life of Scofield, allowing his immense talent to be enjoyed by the world one last time.

Clearly the collaboration between Carlos Santana and producer Rubin, the man who co-founded Def Jam Records (and has worked with the disparate likes of Run DMC, Slayer and Tom Petty) is a mutually fruitful one, because right through to the conclusion, “Candome Cumbele,” this record sounds all the more potent for its cooperative focus.

More formal and complete editions of Neil Young’s archives have been as satisfying as Tuscaloosa--this one lacks two cuts from the original recording--but none carry its implicit social relevance: even an artist as supremely instinctual as Neil Young couldn’t foresee the topical pertinence of an album titled in reference to this Southern state in 2019.

McKagan is an interesting artist. He seems to have no trouble moving between musical genres and he’s equally good at writing in different styles. ... Tenderness isn’t just good for a hard rock guy or a member of Guns N’ Roses. It’s a good album, regardless of whomever, McKagan has played with.

A judiciously edited forty-some minutes of music that sounds every bit the essence of what the band’s titular leader wanted to say and how he wanted it to sound.

She never meanders when storytelling, opting instead for a couple of spare verses with tight turns of phrase punctuated with humor and gravitas. Webster’s forte is silken expressions of lonesome introversion, and she does it with a radiating confidence that compels rapt attention.

Destroyer becomes the perfect album to play in your car while you speed (safely) down the highway. Though not as trippy or psych heavy as its predecessors, Destroyer still manages to fit perfectly into the Black Mountain catalogue.

Only a confident and fearless songwriter could take on this kind of subject matter and make it resonate.

Mavis has always strived to make us feel stronger. She is a remarkable role model bringing us remarkable, enviable spirit, captured here as well as it’s ever been.

Yes, this is confessional song writing but it’s done in the spirit of helping others who have felt similar emotions. She’s baring her soul in a selfless manner, hoping to help others move forward. The sound of Lucette is appropriately contemplative and reflective. It stands apart from most.

Where once they relied on builds with big payouts, the soundscapes conjured on I Am Easy to Find harness restraint so effectively, instead of reveling in the melodies that champion the vocal riches over the intricate layering of guitars, Bryan Devendorf’s iconic rhythms and the space between everything. Even at 64 minutes, it’s a record that never feels bloated.

Big Thief have taken the seeds of introspection that we caught glimpses of on Masterpiece and which showed up in a strong minority of tracks on Capacity and zeroed in on that characteristic, building an album around that subtlety of expression.

This one has terrific moments and arguably, some of the best songs he’s ever written. These ten songs, each three or four minutes in length. are the essence of Will Kimbrough, songsmith.

Cook’s artistic lyrics tend to become buried with the cascading roil around them, but the energy and blending/bleeding is part of The Yawpers appeal. The group’s enticing mix of folk, blues, noise, and good old fashion raw rock and roll is not new, but their twists, emotional singing, and willingness to distort musical conventions makes Human Question an engaging listen thr