They've got four members instead of two, and Brooklyn's Girlfriends can feel a lot like a double-wide Beach House. Both bands lead with gauzy dream-pop vocals and hypnotic hooks, but the Jealous ones fill things out with heavier percussion and the stray amp-ruining riff.
For those who only know Amy Ray as half of the Indigo Girls, her venture into rock 'n' roll territory as a solo artist might come as a surprise. With crunchy guitars and a solid backbeat, Ray showcases a more playful side of her musical personality.
An intriguing flip-flop happens in the Seattle bard's latest. If his previous material was whisper-close yet emotionally distant, his newest is rugged and available. From its aching alt-country melodies to its American-summer lyrics, "Caught in the Trees" can recall Jeff Tweedy.
The Rapture's mix of relentless rhythms, jagged guitars, and pitched vocals gets twisted smartly in W.A.S. works. Instead of the DFA's true house beats, we get drums that are just wilder and more bloodthirsty than rock--an apt way to consider the whole mad science of the thing.
If a Galaga machine could sing a song, it might come out a bit like Ratatat's latest. "LP3" turns to keyboards, spewing forth a pile of vintage effects. But the disc is much more than a catalogue of funny noises. In the hands of these two, retro blips can be the stuff of a ballad.
You don't notice it at first--the way those "drumbeats" sound kind of odd. And then you figure it out. That's tap dancing. The Omaha group have made their name by subbing feet for drumsticks, and on their new full-length the stomps remain a weirdly effective way to underline taut indie-rock tracks.
The Icelandic texture-pop outfit are famous homebodies, recording in their Reykjavik spread and sticking to their native tongue. That orthodoxy is gone on their latest. Cut internationally and allowing some English, it also relaxes musically, mixing a pleasing roughness with the high gleam.
Bouncy and gritty punk rock collides with pop hooks and ska as Less Than Jake takes hold of the horn section and blasts high-energy mischief. Fans of traditional ska and No Doubt lovers alike should grab their Doc Martens and porkpie hats and give a listen to these third wave ska rockers.
Like Feist or Antony & the Johnsons, Joan Wasser pops out of the indie-rock scene with a surprising sense of soul. Armed with a velvety keyboard, nightclub pipes, and a stack of Joan Armatrading LPs, Wasser gives us blissfully stunning songs.
The British group's remarkable mix--gauzy psychedelia filling out an antique gospel-blues--has never sounded better than it does on long-awaited outing "Songs in A&E." Maybe it's an easy out, but the keening tracks, cut after bandleader Jason Pierce nearly died, feel steeped in existential wonder.
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