The New Pornographers - Challengers

$14.98 (list price), Rock/Pop, Matador

Basic Story: Indie rock all-star’s AC Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar (Destroyer) team up once again for their fourth full-length.

Sample: “Fingers in paints/ in paints we brought/ thinking we'd leave them when we're not/ flying the flags of new empires in rags.”

Verdict: As is expected of The New Pornographers, Challengers is a collaborative effort. This time around, AC Newman took charge, writing nine of the 12 songs. Stylistically, there isn’t much change from previous records, but with songs as catchy as “My Rights Versus Yours,” it doesn’t matter. The other three tracks are left for Dan Bejar, who continues to be the bands’ saving grace, taking pop for a hard left turn and giving the record a sense of variety. It’s another solid album that gets better with each listen.

Okkervil River - The Stage Names

$14.98 (list price), Rock/Pop, Jagjaguwar

Basic Story: Following the critical acclaim of Black Sheep Boy in 2005, Okkervil River look to lighten up the mood a little this time around.

Sample: “Midnight late last week/ my daughter’s diary/ didn’t know what it might be ‘til it was open/ I only read one page/ and then put it away/ talk about your big mistakes.”

Verdict: The first three songs on The Stage Names lead you to believe that Okkervil River has done it again. With the fast-paced rocker “Unless It’s Kicks,” it’s hard to believe otherwise. Then suddenly, the songs digress into flat out boring territory where they remain for the rest of the album. By the end, singer Will Sheff’s lyrics become so painfully bad that it makes it hard to go back and take any of it seriously. As it closes, echoing the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B,” it becomes obvious that the band just lost its steam.

Figurines - When The Deer Wore Blue

$14.98 (list price), Pop/Rock, The Control Group

Basic Story: Denmark’s most collectible figurines return with their follow-up to last year’s sleeper hit, Skeletons.

Sample: Out of the street lights/ up on the top of a hill/ I was dreaming/ my head just needed to chill/ I’ll get it together/ speak to you briefly/ and open your mind.

Verdict: There’s something very charming about the Figurines. They’re quirky and fun but still manage to be taken seriously. Their new album doesn’t stray too far from form, though there is a noticeable maturity in the songwriting. On “The Air We Breathe,” it seems as though Brian Wilson has taken over, if only for a moment. Then the band launches back into upbeat territory, where they seem most comfortable – and rightfully so.

1990s - Cookies

$14.98 (list price), Rock/Punk/Pop, Rough Trade

Basic Story: The Scottish three-piece finally makes their U.S. debut with an album recorded by ex-Suede main man Bernard Butler.

Sample: Hey!/ it’s gonna snow tonight/ I know I will be liking it/ so let’s go!/ stare out of the house/ stare into the white/ put on that dress tonight/ the one your mom don’t like.

Verdict: Covering three different genres of music can be a difficult task, but the 1990s make it sound easy. Their grasp on pop music may stem from the fact that two of their members used to be in a band with members of Franz Ferdinand. While their sound isn’t exactly original, the album does have some really catchy songs, making it highly worth a listen. The first single, “See You at the Lights,” might be one of the summer’s best hits.

Bishop Allen - The Broken String

$14.98 (list price), Indie-Pop, Dead Oceans

Basic Story: New York’s newest buzz band Bishop Allen return with their sophomore album.

Sample: “And there’s a tap on my knee/ bring up your seatback please/ but I know she means/ if you feel like dancing/ dance with me.”

Verdict: Following the release of their debut album, Bishop Allen did the unthinkable. In 2006, they recorded and released an EP for each and every month. For The Broken String, the band included nine re-recorded versions of songs from the EP’s. The songs have been buffed up considerably, losing some of that DIY touch, but they still retain their sense of charm. Is it another pop record? Sure. But it’s one of the better ones you’ll hear all year.

Taken By Trees - Open Field

$19.99 (import list price), Pop, Rough Trade

Basic Story: After ending her 11 year stint as singer and songwriter for The Concretes, Victoria Bergsman takes her first stab as a solo artist.

Sample: “I took myself out walking/ by the evening I was running/ I hadn’t done this for a long while/ my friend said cheer up/ it was high time.”

Verdict: Records as pretty as this drive me crazy. Just when I want to criticize Bergsman for leaving such a great band or for making a solo album as sparse as it is simple, I hear her sweet child-like voice and forget all of it. You might recognize that voice from Peter Bjorn & John’s infectious hit “Young Folks,” whose members aided in the recording of this album. The first single, “Lost and Found,” is the obvious standout and despite its sad tone, it will still leave you feeling cheery.

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

$15.98 (list price), Rock, Merge

Basic Story: Following the success of, well, basically everything they’ve done, Spoon return yet again.

Sample: Bet you got it all planned right/ bet you never worry never even feel a fright/ never be down/ I said don’t ever/ because it’s gonna keep em’ hangin’ around.”

Verdict: Some bands seem destined to always be good. Spoon prove on this album that such destiny isn’t so far fetched. In fact, they make it seem inevitable. The songs are predominately cut from the same cloth as those on Gimme Fiction but with a few left turns thrown in. “The Ghost of You Lingers” is perhaps the most experimental Spoon has ever gotten, and it succeeds. Best of all is “Don’t You Evah,” their catchiest song since “The Way We Get By.”

Interpol - Our Love To Admire

$14.98 (list price), Rock, Capitol

Basic Story: Rock n’ Roll’s moodiest contributors deliver their highly anticipated third album and first on a major label.

Sample: “I will stride you with desire/ the fault line, no crutch, no stall/ and I can bind you with no ties or leash and watch you fall/ see I got this soul/ it's all fired up.”

Verdict: The comparisons to Joy Division can officially stop. Not that they were ever entirely accurate, but on Our Love To Admire, Interpol seem to have replaced some of the darkness with…dare I say…pop sensibilities. The songs are much shorter and concise this time around, and singer Paul Banks’ voice has been moved up in the mix revealing just how strong it has become. Fans of old will be pleased and new fans will be made, especially with such beastly tracks as “Mammoth.”

St. Vincent - Marry Me

$14.98 (list price), Pop/Rock/Soul, Beggars Banquet

Basic Story: St. Vincent, the moniker of 23-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Annie Clark, releases her eclectic debut.

Sample: “While Jesus is saving I’m spending all my days/ in backgrounds and landscapes with the languages of saints/ while people are spinning like toys on Christmas day.”

Verdict: This may be her first record but Clark is hardly a newcomer. Having played guitar for the Polyphonic Spree and in Sufjan Stevens’ touring band, she is now following the path set by My Brightest Diamond, also an offspring of Sufjan. While her voice is easy to melt into, the music attempts to cover too many styles with few sounding like her own. Fans of Feist might find something they like here but mind you it’s been done already, only better.

MF Doom - MM..Food?

$17.98 (list price), Hip-Hop, Rhymesayers

Basic Story: Hip-Hop’s most prolific masked rapper gets the reissue treatment for his acclaimed 2004 release, ‘MM..Food?’ now packaged with a DVD of live performances.

Sample: “Doom was always known to keep the best girls backs bent/ some say it’s the eyes/ some say the accent/ a lot of guys wonder where they stacks went.”

Verdict: Today, MF Doom has proven himself as a top hip-hop contender. This reissue, however, takes us back to a man still trying (and succeeding) to make a name for himself. The appropriately titled album’s track list reads like a deranged restaurant menu where even the most disgusting items (‘Vomitspit’) go down easy. In a genre that seems to have fallen short lately in originality, there is no better time for this album to have been made available again. Super.

Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions

$15.98 (list price), Club/Dance, Domino

Basic Story: Mark E. Smith of The Fall teams up with Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner of Mouse On Mars to release the trio’s club-worthy debut.

Sample: “At a traffic circle/ a man in a yellow helmet on a mountain bike pulled up to me/ I went along with it at first/ he started singing/ I was in my garden.”

Verdict: At first, combining members of Mouse on Mars with The Fall’s Mark E. Smith looks as strange on paper as it sounds on a stereo. The songs largely succeed, however, with a surprising charm. Smith’s lyrics are still razor sharp while his vocals, caked with effects, remain typically nonchalant. His attitude struggles to cooperate with the music at times, but on “The Rhinohead,” the combination makes for at least one track guaranteed to pack a dance floor.

My Morning Jacket - At Dawn/Tennessee Fire Demos Package

$15.98 (list price), Indie/Country Rock, Darla

Basic Story: My Morning Jacket’s former label compiles demo versions of songs from their first two albums, adding some rare and unreleased live tracks for good measure.

Sample: “Oh, don't carve me out/ don’t let your silly dreams/ fall in between/ the crack of the bed and the wall.”

Verdict: If you happened to buy At Dawn when it was first released in 2001, there’s a chance you already own its respective demos from this compilation. If not, this disc is a must have. The stripped-down lo-fi acoustic recordings of songs like ‘I Needed It Most’ allow for an intimate look at the creative process behind one of the band’s best albums. Early versions of Tennessee Fire songs are a worthwhile bonus but the At Dawn demos are strong enough to stand alone.

Dungen - Tio Bitar

$14.98 (list price), Psychedelic Rock, Kemado

Basic Story: Sweden’s Dungen give us their fourth album and the follow-up to their critically acclaimed and groundbreaking 2004 release, Ta Det Lugnt.

Sample: Lyrics in Swedish.

Verdict: Tio Bitar translates in English to “10 Pieces,” the total amount of songs on the album, which range from two to almost nine minutes in length. Whether long or short, the songs give Dungen plenty of time to shift the musical direction several times over. The band often goes from slow, spacey pieces built around intricate fiddle playing, to fuzzed-out stadium rock, and vice versa. Overall, the songs are harder on the ears, lacking in melodic direction and increasingly self indulgent. It’s difficult to even pick out a standout track. Perhaps another case of a one album wonder.

The Takeovers - Bad Football

$14.98 (list price), Rock, Off

Basic Story: Robert Pollard and Chris Slusarenko of the retired Guided By Voices team up once again for their second album.

Sample: “I am snitching out your man/ I am rolling out your plan/ breaking out lawn furniture/ in father’s favorite temperature.”

Verdict: The Takeovers, one of Robert Pollard’s many post-GBV side projects, are in top form here, outshining many of his recent solo ventures. Bad Football features several guest musicians, including Stephen Malkmus and the Decemberists’ John Moen who help realize the potential of Pollard’s musical collages. Though some songs remain in drunken sketch form, the album is a predominately focused effort filled with several Pollard classics, including ‘My Will,’ one of the catchiest and best songs he has written in years.

A Band of Bees - Octopus

$15.98 (list price), Psychedelic Jam Pop, Astralwerks

Basic Story: The third album from Isle of Wight’s A Band of Bees pushes them slightly closer towards jam band material while maintaining traces of throwback psychedelia.

Sample: “Lost to the swell/ stand and deliver/ my coins in the well/ arrows in my quiver/ is there any love in the harbour?”

Verdict: The summer is here and it’s hard to imagine a better season to see the release of this album. With its free spiritedness and rhythmic grooves, Octopus takes you back in time to a place that looks and sounds a lot like San Francisco in the late 60s. For all you hipsters, fear not. The jam band aspect is subtle and non-threatening. Occasionally the band slows things down a bit, like on the soul flavored standout “Listening Man,” which sees singer Paul Butler doing his best Sam Cooke impression. Yes, these are kind bees, far more concerned with the sweetness of their honey than trying to sting anyone.

The Ladybug Transistor - Can't Wait Another Day

$14.98 (list price), Pop, Merge

Basic Story: Veteran indie-pop group The Ladybug Transistor’s sixth full-length manages to sound both melancholy and uplifting at the same time.

Sample: “So, when I lost you/ all the people would say/ that’s okay/ you know that the sun will shine another day on you/ but how could they know/ what you meant to me.”

Verdict: While listening to Can’t Wait Another Day, it’s difficult to disassociate lyrics like the ones above with the untimely death of the bands drummer, San Fadyl. However, Fadyl passed after the album was recorded, making such comparisons an eerie coincidence. The music itself is relatively brighter, due in part to some colorful saxophone and trumpet arrangements. In addition, the album features guest appearances by Sweden’s beloved crooner Jens Lekman and Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele. Whether it’s pop or gloom, The Ladybug Transistor seem content right in the middle.

Voxtrot - Voxtrot

$14.98 (list price), Rock, Play Louder

Basic Story: Riding high on the success and acclaim of 3 strong EP’s released over the past two years, Voxtrot finally deliver their highly anticipated debut.

Sample: “Cheer me up/ cheer me up/ I’m invisibly stuck all in myself/ Yes, I'm a vanity whore.”

Verdict: With the release of such solid EP’s, it’s easy to see why so much hype built around this young Austin, Texas band. Of course we all know that with hype comes backlash, and Voxtrot have had their share. Unfortunately for the band, their self-titled debut won’t make things any easier. Voxtrot seems to have toned down everything that made their first releases so good, replacing it with mediocre melodies and predictable chord progressions. While at first it was a relief to see that this album would feature all new material, it is now so sad to see what was, and what could have been.

Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart

$15.98 (list price), Country/Soul, Drag City

Basic Story: Singer and songwriter for Smog, Bill Callahan, ditches the alias for his first solo album, a stripped down venture overflowing with soul.

Sample: “You bring out the soft side in everyone/ we gather like ravens on a rusty scythe/ just to watch such a little dove/ fly away.”

Verdict: Despite the name change, Woke on a Whaleheart is essentially just another Smog record. But that’s far from being a bad thing. On his first full-length since 2005’s A River Ain’t Too Much To Love, Callahan seems more inspired by subtlety than experimentalism, a move that some may consider a step back. However, tracks like ‘Sycamore’ and ‘Honeymoon Child’ prove that Callahan’s writing is better than ever. If anything, the songs are now more accessible, made sparse enough to reveal themselves in a natural light. Vocally, the record often feels somber, but musically, it’s triumphantly uplifting.

Bonde Do Role - With Lasers

$13.98 (list price), Baile Funk, Domino

Basic Story: After a great deal of press and hype stemming from the release of a couple singles, the Brazilian funk trio finally unleash their debut with the help of Diplo.

Sample: Lyrics in Portuguese.

Verdict: Speaking both lyrically and musically, Bonde Do Role writes dirty, dirty music. The band combines funk with dance, punk and 70s rock n’ roll that, when all thrown together, can either make you want to run to the dance floor or run for the nearest toilet. All the songs are sung in a Portuguese slang adopted by the areas gay community which, apparently, most Brazilians don’t understand. The song ‘James Bonde’ for example, is about how the agent would be more convincing as a homosexual but would be fired by the queen once she discovered he uses false eyelashes. On record, the “dance” vibe doesn’t translate as well as it surely does live, making it a novelty listen at most.

Battles - Mirrored

$15.98 (list price), Experimental Rock, Warp

Basic Story: Warp Records continues its attempt to branch out from the likes of Aphex Twin, this time releasing the debut from New York-based art rockers Battles.

Sample: Lyrics Unknown/indecipherable.

Verdict: In a way, Mirrored makes sense in the company of its mostly experimental electronic label mates. The album is weird, predominately instrumental, and when there are vocals, they’re put through effects and used more like an instrument, making any lyrics indecipherable. The first single, ‘Atlas,’ sounds like it could have been pulled from an Animal Collective record. The drums drive the song while the melody crosses the line from dancing into freak out territory. Sadly, the single is as good as it gets. While other songs have their moments, the album relies too heavily on repetitive instrumentation that rarely builds to a release worth noting. Regardless, as a debut, it shows a great deal of promise for future releases.