Sleeping on Roads is both more subdued and more universally poppy than anything Mojave 3 has released to date.

A gleefully cohesive miasma of sound.

The problem is, it all feels a bit contrived.

Their music is interesting, intelligent and exciting, and it'll make you smile really, really big.

If you peel away the pretense, there's actually a fascinating album at work here.

They've mostly dropped the songs that traded entirely on their sexuality, replacing them with tunes full of nuance and subtlety.

There wouldn't be a problem at all if Buzzkunst wasn't such a maddeningly forgettable record.

Like Tindersticks without the strings, and with a better sense of vocal clarity, L'Altra is the kind of band whose releases would be best sold with some cheap red wine and a carton of cigarettes for those long, lonely nights in.

No, it's not the new White Stripes record -- it's something infinitely better.

Though Faded Seaside Glamour proudly wears the jacket of its influences for all to see, the band stitch it up so well that you could never accuse it of being a knockoff.

Team Boo is Mates of State's best album to date.

Mercifully, Frusciante has toned down the screechy howl that made his earlier work almost unbearable, and while his songs aren't quite diamond-sharp, they have evolved into soft-focus pop tunes that display a keen melodic intuition and gift for beautiful torment.

I'm used to hearing more layers in this type of music, and the simplicity here is surprising -- not necessarily in a good way.

As with anything, some listeners will already have sickened of seeing the words "dance" and "punk" next to one another -- but for the rest of us, this is an excellent new chapter in one of the young century's most interesting musical trends.

Since We've Become Translucent does an almost unimaginably good job of adding heft, weight and, god I hate to say it, maturity to the garage idiom.

The more I listen to The Sword of God, the more I appreciate Quasi’s ability to create smoothly flowing, catchy songs without sacrificing their trademark complexity. My only problem with this album is that the whole package is just so drenched in irony...

There's probably nothing here you haven't heard before, but it's all wrapped up in a particularly appetizing package and garnished with lots of artful discord.

It's definitely a departure from their earlier albums -- or, more precisely, an evolution -- but in no way did they drop the ball. Instead, they may now be playing a different game.

Though it isn't the staggering atom bomb that was Turn on the Bright Lights, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid is intermittently brilliant and wholly accomplished, establishing Elefant as more than a flash in the pan.

A novelty act, a misfire and a waste of time.

Few electronic artists working today have the balls or the skills to pull off an album as unconventional and uncompromising as Go Plastic...

As ordered as it is wild, as gorgeous as it is gruesome, Lay of the Land is indeed a ballsy record.

This is one of the breeziest, catchiest discs I've heard in a while.

Telepopmusik has all of the innovative approaches of their countrymen, and their attention to lyrics and prominent place for vocal styles means that their album is both accessible and deeply interesting.

This is a big, sprawling, difficult but rewarding album, from a band whose reach exceeds its grasp, but only by a little.

It's filthy, low-budget fun that's still plenty fucked up, whether you're a first-timer or a hardcore Peaches fanatic.

He's at the height of his powers here, as vital and relevant as ever.

Unless you're fifteen and were raised with a mouse constantly in hand, the Mae Shi can get overwhelming... but their saving graces (lots of genuine energy, naming their songs things like "Hieronymus Bosch is a Dead Man") charm you into liking them.