FM BELFAST Don’t Want to Sleep myspace.com/fmbelfast Icelandic winters must be a drag, what with the 24-hour darkness, but local fave FM Belfast has the antidote. On its sophomore album the group fuses synth blips, Nintendo noises, piano plinks and brass toots, radiating pure audio sunshine.  Read More →

CRYSTAL ANTLERS Two-Way Mirror myspace.com/crystalantlers Given their punk roots, Crystal Antlers were surprised by the prog-rock comparisons that greeted their excellent 2009 debut, Tentacles. The follow-up is bound to draw more, as the California quintet expands on its Doors-do-hardcore psychedelic thrash, trying sun-bleached pop on “Way Out” and way-out rock on “Sun-Bleached.” On “Summer Solstice” the band manages mellow beach music... 

XAVIER & OPHELIA X&O xandomusic.com It was a lucky break when Dave Tough found DeAnna Moore on MySpace. Back in 2009 the songwriter and producer needed a singer for some demos, and in Moore he found a musical chameleon keen on jazz, New Wave and Kings of Leon. Alongside such straight-up pop songs as the Dido-esque “Milk & Honey,” the pair’s debut features the suave soul throwback “Chateau Marmont” and electro-glam gem “I’m... 

LAUREN LUCAS On With the Show laurenlucas.com The cover portrait for Nashville-based Lauren Lucas’ first new music since 2007 (illustrated by noted comic-book artist Jim Starlin) finds the South Carolina native cutting herself free of puppet strings. While it’s a not-so-subtle metaphor for Lucas’ frustration with her wranglings with Music City’s oft-maddening business machine, it’s also representative of the broader and more organic musical... 

MARE WAKEFIELD Meant to Be marewakefield.com The letter to heaven is a common songwriting device, especially for folk and country artists, but Nashville songstress Mare Wakefield addresses the Almighty in a unique way. “In case you don’t know,” she sings, having just accused God of letting humanity destroy itself, “if we go, you go.” It’s a song of faith and skepticism—a prayer from someone who believes religion is man-made. “If We... 

ARMY NAVY The Last Place myspace.com/armynavy The latest in a long line of inexplicably underappreciated power-pop bands (see also Big Star, the Flamin’ Groovies and the Nerves), Army Navy debuted with one of the best albums of 2008. All sparkling guitar and infectious melody, that self-titled effort should have been a million-seller. Here’s hoping the band scores big with The Last Place, which picks up right where its predecessor left off. Frontman... 

TIDELANDS If… facebook.com/tidelands.music As the story goes, Gabriel Montana Leis needed to learn flugelhorn before he could play the melodies he began dreaming up in 2009. In forming Tidelands he enlisted Mie Araki, a percussionist able to play drums and Moog bass at the same time. Leis blows his horn throughout the San Francisco duo’s debut, but these tracks are built more on his guitar loops—jangling tangles that nuzzle Araki’s synths... 

KINDEST LINES Covered in Dust myspace.com/kindestlines Back in the ’80s, bummed-out teens could take solace in at least one thing: their killer record collections. In those days groups like Depeche Mode, New Order and Cocteau Twins created sumptuously gloomy pop, making it more fun to wallow in supposed misery than hang with the popular kids. Kindest Lines revisits the sound of yesterday’s mopey classics here, most notably the Cure’s 1989 Disintegration.... 

THE FEAR AND TREMBLING This Old Earthquake thefearandtrembling.com This New York band’s second full-length finds singer-guitarist Ryan Stimpson, multi-instrumentalist Adam Bains and drummer Morgan Loy (here abetted by bass player and percussionist Charlie Kessenich) tightening its grooves and reining in some of the My Bloody Valentine-ish expansiveness of 2007’s The Fear and Trembling’s Octopus. Still, this is an act that follows its instincts... 

URSA MINOR Showface ursaminor.info Give Ursa Minor some electric pianos—the featured instrument on the New York City group’s 2003 debut—and singer Michelle Casillas will bring the drama like Regina Spektor. She’s got the pipes and personality to go the quirky folk-chanteuse route, but here, as she and her bandmates trade keyboards for electric guitars, she proves she can also rock out. Opener “Lead & I Will Follow” recalls vintage... 

JASON WHITE The Longing jasonwhitemusic.com Jason White went into his third album with two rather lofty goals. First he wanted to connect with his sensitive side—something former girlfriends said they found lacking in his music. A decade after Tim McGraw took one of his songs to the country Top 5 (“Red Ragtop”), White also sought to reaffirm his own artistic identity. He certainly accomplishes the former. Aside from “April”—a mournful... 

MAKING FRIENDZ Social Life myspace.com/makingfriendz Tami Hart could have written nine songs just like “Situation,” the one that opens her debut as Making Friendz. “Bet you think you got me pegged,” she taunts, just before spelling out the title like a ticked-off Toni Basil. She goes on to salute Black Flag and dismiss today’s music as “commodity.” It’s brash, bratty stuff, but Social Life marks Hart’s transition from folkie rocker... 

THE WOOD BROTHERS Smoke Ring Halo thewoodbrothers.com Thanks to crossover successes Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers—whippersnappers who jammed with Bob Dylan at this year’s Grammys—Americana is hotter than fresh-baked pie on Mama’s windowsill. Woefully missing from the Grammy hootenanny were the Wood Brothers, virtuosic Colorado natives with a refreshing take on rootsy sounds. Oliver and Chris Wood haven’t recorded with Rick Rubin... 

GARLAND JEFFREYS After an inspirational break to raise his daughter, it’s time to get wild again Garland Jeffreys is a New York City man through and through. Born in Brooklyn, he first made his name on the city’s thriving folk scene in the mid-1960s. He fell in with fellow Syracuse University student Lou Reed, and before long found himself in the studio playing guitar on Vintage Violence, the 1969 debut solo album by Reed’s Velvet Underground... 

JONATHAN EDWARDS How Mr. “Sunshine” found an audience without the help of the music business “Sunshine,” the Top 5 hit from Jonathan Edwards’ self-titled 1971 debut album, announced his arrival with a bang. But the Minnesota-born singer and songwriter proved unable to follow that now-classic tune with another big pop hit—a quandary that he ascribes in part to troubles with his management. “Suddenly I had some street cred and respect... 

RON SEXSMITH Getting his career back with the help of an unlikely collaborator Ron Sexsmith doesn’t come across as your typical rock star. Cherubic and looking perhaps half of his 47 years, he’s notoriously shy and insecure. So what is this sensitive soul doing hanging around with Bob Rock, a guy best known for producing the hard-and-heavy likes of Metallica and Mötley Crüe? “When Bob came on board, I started to get excited again,” Sexsmith... 

TIERRA NEGRA & MURIEL ANDERSON Worlds collide—and a vibrant new brand of flamenco is born Guitar maven Muriel Anderson’s initial encounter with Tierra Negra came when she visited the booth at a European music festival where the German flamenco duo was selling its signature line of handmade guitars. “When we got there one morning, we found Muriel with one of our guitars playing her song ‘Angelina Baker,’” recalls Tierra Negra’s... 

CASEY DESMOND Talent, tenacity and tech savvy are moving this indie artist forward Casey Desmond is the kind of kid who makes parents proud. At 24 she’s already received more awards and acclaim than many artists accumulate over a career. In addition to recently winning the Vision 4 Music songwriting competition and the Los Angeles Music awards, she’s been a repeat nominee for the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a finalist in the Boston Music... 

PETER HIMMELMAN An accomplished indie artist insists the mainstream matters “I don’t work that often with inspiration,” Peter Himmelman declares. “I just work with necessities.” For instance, he decided several years ago to try his hand at scoring television shows because, as he says, “Music doesn’t pay anymore.” He found considerable success, winning an Emmy nomination for his contributions to the drama Judging Amy. Then came a TV... 

SARA HICKMAN In music and in business, Texas’ Official State Musician has it covered Sara Hickman doesn’t waste a moment. An adept multitasker, she is devoted to both her family (she lists her role as wife and mother prominently in her résumé) and a far-flung 22-year career that’s brought her success as a singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. These days the tireless Texan is busier than ever with a long list of projects. They include... 

ANCIENT VVISDOM A Godlike Inferno myspace.com/ancientvvisdom Proving it’s possible to worship the beast while playing at a reasonable volume, these Texas folk-metal mavens temper electric crunch with acoustic picking, boot stomps and bamboo percussion. The quiet suits frontman Nathan Opposition—a thoughtful pagan who’s spent time contemplating man’s wickedness.  Read More →

JACK BEAUREGARD The Magazines You Read myspace.com/jackbeauregard Synth-pop is the medium, not the message, for Jack Beauregard, a German duo whose sensitive-guy songs are more Belle and Sebastian than Depeche Mode. When Daniel Schaub sings about going all night, his fantasy entails comforting a troubled lover, keeping her warm while she tosses and turns.  Read More →

FORD & LOPATIN Channel Pressure myspace.com/gamesmusic If it sounded cool in the ’80s, Brooklyn duo Ford & Lopatin squeeze it onto this record. Thomas Dolby synths, slap bass, shredding guitars, soft-rock vocals and the hook from Ready for the World’s funk hit “Oh Sheila”: They’re all here, warped and blended to brilliant effect.  Read More →

THE SHIVERS More theshiversnyc.blogspot.com With keyboardist Jo Schornikow on piano or organ, singer Keith Zarriello inevitably sounds like a salty old barstool philosopher. When she’s on synth, he becomes an unlikely pop singer—Tom Waits in Prince’s purple finery. Either way, this New York duo keeps it intense, soulful and unpredictable.  Read More →

AITAN Top of the World aitan.com Stylish L.A. synth-pop newcomer Aitan wants either to be the male Katy Perry or his generation’s George Michael. Both are worthy goals—no, seriously—and if this slick, well-crafted EP is any indication, Aitan won’t reside in the indie scene for long.  Read More →

P.J. PACIFICO Outlet pjpacifico.com Life is tough for touring musicians, but less so for those with supportive partners. P.J. Pacifico is grateful for the woman who’s stuck by him for the last 10 years, and on “As Soon as I Can,” the country-tinged pop-rock centerpiece of his third album, he thanks his wife for letting him pack up the car and chase his dreams. He probably got permission by playing her “Home With Me,” his heartfelt telling... 

CIRKUS Medicine cirkustent.com Trailblazing trip-hop producer Cameron McVey and his wife, “Buffalo Stance” singer Neneh Cherry, have been making anything-goes 21st century pop music since at least the late ’80s. For their second album as cirKus, the forward-looking couple again teams with daughter Lolita Moon and producer-guitarist Karmil, creating the musical equivalent of a family juggling act. From the woozy swagger of opener “Drug of Choice”... 

EDIE CAREY Bring the Sea ediecarey.com Artists like Edie Carey provide a valuable, if underappreciated, public service. As per her official bio, Carey occupies that “middle ground between singing at weddings and being Madonna,” and while she might never be a pop star, this strumming balladeer poetess writes truthful, elegant songs for adults. Her seventh album is about following dreams, starting families, overcoming insecurity and losing the destructive... 

LINDI ORTEGA Little Red Boots lindiortega.com Lindi Ortega knows she’s no Elvis Presley—she even sings a song called “I’m No Elvis Presley”—but she comes closer than any female Canadian country singer since k.d. lang. On pop-rockabilly opener “Little Lie,” Ortega revisits the King’s early days, pairing “That’s All Right”–style guitar with the rolling drums of “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum,” the lead track on Bob Dylan’s... 

THE TUNNEL Fathoms Deep thetunnelsf.com A veteran of San Francisco’s avant-garde theater scene, hammy Tunnel frontman Jeff Wagner sings like a theme-park pirate or B-movie baddie. “I’m not of your world,” he warns on “King of the Impossible,” claiming instead to be from a “whole other underworld.” That underworld sounds suspiciously like Australia, as his sound echoes several of that continent’s most influential acts. The most obvious... 

LIL DAGGERS Lil Daggers myspace.com/lildaggers When they’re so inclined, Lil Daggers can take off on a mangy psych-blues ramble as good as any by better-known ’60s revivalists the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or Brian Jonestown Massacre. On “Dada Brown” and “Slave Exchange,” the Miami sextet does just that, setting crud-caked guitars against cheap-o 1966 organ tones. As garage-rock classicists they’re great, but the Daggers cut deepest... 

TRS-80 Horizons trs80.com Jay Rajeck founded TRS-80 in 1997, years before the advent of “chillwave,” or hypnagogic pop, or whatever this week’s correct term is for the current wave of indie music meant to invoke hazy memories of early-’80s video-game soundtracks, New Wave hits and other sounds ingrained in the brains of people raised during the Reagan years. TRS-80 has toured with Ariel Pink and Geneva Jacuzzi—leaders of the movement in... 

ARNOLD McCULLER Soon as I Get Paid arnoldmcculler.com If James Taylor and Phil Collins picked up any extra soulfulness in recent years, they probably got it from Arnold McCuller. A longtime back-up singer for these and other pop giants, McCuller plays smooth bluesman on Soon as I Get Paid, a collection of covers and originals. His own “Gods and Monsters” is the standout—a song about a voodoo guitarist casting spells at an after-hours juke joint.... 

THE WRONGLERS WITH JIMMIE DALE GILMORE Heirloom Music myspace.com/thewronglers There’s a reason country artists—even great songwriters like Jimmie Dale Gilmore—keep coming back to ’30s and ’40s bluegrass. The era’s proto-country songs have it all: humor, heartbreak, outlaw spirit and wellsprings of emotion. Backed here by the virtuosic pluckers, pickers and fiddlers of California’s Wronglers, Gilmore revisits the classics, delivering... 

NINE 11 THESAURUS Ground Zero Generals myspace.com/nine11thesaurus It’s bluntly provocative, but Nine 11 Thesaurus is a fitting name for this Brooklyn crew—five teenage rappers searching for words to describe the post-9/11 world. Some group members lost family members in the attacks, but while they do rhyme about wars and world affairs, they focus more on domestic issues like institutional racism (“Bondages”), police brutality (“Police Sirens”)... 

JOHAN AGEBJÖRN Casablanca Nights johanagebjorn.info To outsiders, the world of European dance music can seem strange and forbidding. There are flashing lights and fashions to consider, and the music breaks down into subgenres—Italo Disco, Eurobeat, Hi-NRG, etc.—distinguishable only to the indoctrinated. Johan Agebjörn is an insider, but on his first solo album of what he simply terms “disco,” the Swedish producer aims for inclusiveness.... 

TITLE TRACKS In Blank titletracksdc.blogspot.com “Everything goes away!” John Davis proclaims on “Shaking Hands,” the first song on the sophomore effort from Title Tracks. As he makes this claim, stampeding drums and his own gruff, jangling guitar threaten to drown him out—and in the process succeed in proving him wrong. One thing that clearly refuses to go away is punky ’70s power-pop, the signature sound on this 32-minute rocket of a... 

THOSE DARLINS Screws Get Loose thosedarlins.com These Tennessee gals could have gone the Dixie Chicks route, but they growl as well as they harmonize, coming on like a gang of Wanda Jacksons. They also rock like backwater Ramones, playing punk rock with country swagger and plenty of kid-sister sass.  Read More →

TS & THE PAST HAUNTS Caveman Rock myspace.com/tsandthepasthaunts Having led his last band, Piebald, from punk to perky piano-pop, singer Travis Shettel joins British garage foursome the Duke Spirit for a ’60s-influenced EP that’s a little of both. Shettel remains a master of geeky sincerity even on the raging title cut, his invitation to dance like a Neanderthal.  Read More →

SPIRIT PEOPLE Dragoons spiritpeople.bandcamp.com There’s probably an anthropological explanation for the prevalence of tribal percussion in New York indie rock—something about artsy kids migrating from other places and wanting to feel connected. With its restless drumming and appealingly amorphous guitars, this debut will make a fine soundtrack for someone’s Ph.D. dissertation.  Read More →

KREIDLER Tank myspace.com/kreidlerde When the creepy mannequin-robot thing on the cover of this album fancies a dance, he probably reaches for some Kreidler. The German foursome is factory-like in its fashioning of these tracks—quasi-funky, neo-Krautrock jams made from drum thumps, synth squiggles and fat-bottom bass. It’s rigid, but it’s sexy.  Read More →

JACOBS LADDER Back to Life jacobsladdermusic.com With the same sparkle-to-crunch ratio that made stars of Yellowcard, New Found Glory and numerous other ’00s pop-punk bands, Jacobs Ladder aims high with its debut EP. On “Home Alone Tonight,” singer Oren Maisner sits heartbroken “by the fireside”—unexpected imagery for a Miami musician, but effective nonetheless.  Read More →

ZOOBOMBS La Vie en Jupon thezoobombs.com Tokyo’s Zoobombs are finally getting ready to drop on America. These Japanese rockers have been kicking out the jams since the mid-’90s, but as this digital-only, career-spanning sampler points out, their sound is pure 1970: Stooges punk meets Sly Stone funk. Songs like “Way In/Way Out” and “Get It Together” start out as conventional bluesy garage tunes, but the Bombs stretch them out with organ... 

SOMETHING FIERCE Don’t Be So Cruel somethingfiercemusic.com Neither “Future Punks” nor this disc’s title cut is a reggae song, but with their sparse guitars and go-go basslines, both songs have the agitated bounce of “Police and Thieves,” the Clash’s first foray into Jamaican music. Something Fierce has clearly been studying the Clash closely, but the Houston trio is equally fond of the Jam and the Undertones—groups that knew crummy... 

SHARKS The Joys of Living myspace.com/sharks When the Sharks’ James Mattock sings lines like, “Never allow yourself to forget to run against and through the darkness,” his heart is working harder than his brain—and that’s precisely as it should be. Like their American counterparts in Gaslight Anthem, these tattooed, greasy-haired Brits are rock ’n’ roll zealots. They base their faith on two sacred 1978 texts—Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness... 

ROCKY BUSINESS A Rebel’s Roar wearerockybusiness.com “Feeling like Biggie when he laid ‘Juicy,’” rapper Strictly Business announces on his duo’s debut EP, making a comparison that’s not quite right. SB, as he’s known, is a motormouth MC from the Notorious B.I.G.’s old Brooklyn ’hood, but that’s where the similarities end. On “Juicy,” Biggie sipped champagne and celebrated his rise from gutter to penthouse. Contrast that with... 

LAB COAST Pictures on the Wall myspace.com/labcoast Leave it to Canada, the no-big-whoop capital of North America, to produce a band as unassuming as Lab Coast. Lax and lovely, this 12-song, 19-minute collection is available as both a digital download and old-school cassette—fitting, since it sounds like it was recorded straight to boombox. Therein lies the charm: These Calgary rockers take the lo-fi slacker-pop sound of American contemporaries... 

THE HORROR THE HORROR Wilderness myspace.com/thth With the Strokes back in action, stylistic descendents The Horror The Horror picked a great time for reinvention. This is the Swedish quintet’s third album—traditionally the make-or-break one—and singer Joel Lindström knows the dangers of failing to evolve. “Come in with the underground, go out with the undertow,” he sings on “Vanity,” a song about feeling like the last of the ’00s... 

SETH GLIER Next Right Thing sethglier.com Like his hero, James Taylor, Seth Glier has seen fire and he’s seen rain. Also like Taylor, the 21-year-old Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter is a firm believer in keeping cool, taking the good with the bad and never, under any circumstances, raising his voice. Glier’s sophomore album is filled with sweet, slice-of-life piano-pop tunes, and whether he’s singing about bombs falling on Baghdad (“First”)... 

THE GET UP KIDS There Are Rules thegetupkids.com Three years after re-forming a band that started out during Bill Clinton’s first term, the Get Up Kids knew as well as anyone that they couldn’t return with yet another emo-pop album. They instead have chosen to lean heavily on synths and effects to avoid backsliding into familiar territory, creating their bleakest, spikiest, most electronic collection yet. The Kansas City quintet still works toward...