SPIN

Violens True

Brooklyn trio grounds airy pop soundscapes with jagged guitar, skittish rhythms, discordant squalls of rock bl 7/10

John Mayer Born and Raised

Probing his fans' secret fears and flaws with the self-serving finesse of a ladies' mag — hey, it's a l 7/10

Various Artists Kitsuné America

Kitsune's first U.S. comp is light, retro disco-pop for group picnics and twee iPod commercials. 6/10

Ursprung Ursprung

With post-rocker Stephan Abry, Pantha du Prince ditches bell-techno, dishes spongy krautrock laced with birdso 7/10

Cold Specks I Predict a Graceful Expulsion

Someone like Adele, musically stuck at that awkward age between 19 and 21. 5/10

Royal Thunder CVI

On this stunning breakthrough, screaming female Mlny Parsonz commands a bluesy mix of Led Zep and Sleater-Kinn 8/10

S. Carey Hoyas

Warm laptop waves expand and collapse, leaving shy horns, AutoTuneful vocals on shore in this Bon Iver–produce 7/10

The Cult Choice Of Weapon

Déjà vu riffs and Ian Astbury’s hard-rock shaman voodoo are still great, but the weapon tends to mis 6/10

Hallelujah the Hills No One Knows What Will Happen Next

Trumpet and cello bits are welcome decoys to otherwise predictable indie rock. 6/10

Stephen O'Malley & Steve Noble St. Francis Duo

Like a bad vibes Flower/Corsano, free-metal meets free-jazz for motionless, flabby hour. 6/10

Kimbra Vows

Kiwi songbird emits offbeat R&B charms sharper than duet dude Gotye; debut LP actually invigorated by Yankee m 7/10

Joey Ramone ...Ya Know?

Just hearing Joey's nasal honk warms the heart, but posthumous odds'n'sods collection is too slick to stick. 6/10

St. Vitus Lillie: F-65

Doom metal icons' first album since 1995 still sounds like the work of pissed-off 'luuded out cavemen. Phew. 7/10

Haley Reinhart Listen Up!

Thank Adele for an Idol album with depth. Thank Winehouse for dusty soul. Thank Reinhart for the pipes. 7/10

Plankton Wat Spirits

Bucolic, Pacific Northwesterly recapitulation of languidly pulsing guitar, from Fahey to Fripp. 7/10

Roomrunner Super Vague EP

Double Dagger drummer returns to front hook-slinging, flannel-flying, grunge-reviving positive creeps. 8/10

Røsenkøpf Røsenkøpf

The no fun Swans basement clambake to Sleigh Bells' Def Leppard confetti cannon. 7/10

Man Forever Pansophical Cataract

Oneida's Kid Millions and droning friends compress a drum circle into infinitely dense jet roars. 6/10

Catheter Southwest Doom Violence

Grindcore speed tests made exponentially more nauseous by sleepy-eyed Eyehategod doomer churgle. 7/10

Cherri Bomb This is the End of Control

More Lita Ford than Joan Jett, four L.A. girls offer polished pop-metal for quasi-runaways. 6/10

David Daniell and Douglas McCombs Versions

Massive ebow drones, uplifting spirit-jams, drum splat from San Augustin/Tortoise guitarists. 8/10

Evans The Death Evans The Death

Foos-meets-Smiths guitar-pop made sweeter by frontwoman Katherine Whitaker's holy-shit vocal work. 8/10

Young L Enigma Theory

Baby Based God gobbles up Yeasayer, Wye Oak, Mr. Hudson, spits up Clams-core, needs swag back. 4/10

Shadows Fall Fire From the Sky

Expert musicianship and a few catchy melodies can't save nu-thrash stalwarts from going stale. 5/10

The Sugarmen 3 What the World Needs Now

Daptone and Dap-Kings crew-members reunite for righteous instrumental '60s soul shindig. 7/10

El-P Cancer for Cure

El-P occupies a singular perch. 7/10

Ab-Soul Control System

Secret best Black Hippy skips ScHoolBoy's machismo, matches Kendrick's bug-out charm, channels P.K. 8/10

Le Stelle A Voyage Adrift

Sputtering like an 8-bit Meshuggah, these Italian sludgers are savage enough to quell prog-dorkchills. 8/10

Cheap Time Wallpaper Music

Tennessee glam-snots (and Jay Reatard faves) outgrow their ilk, unload a thorny, at times mesmeric mess. 7/10

Slugabed Time Team

Twenty-one-year-old beat genius doses UK dubstep with Dilla hop and Left Coast soul; makes Flying Lotus nervou 7/10

Philm Harmonic

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo attempts Deftones, Unsane, Faith No More alt-metal; king of duggadugga just too f 5/10

Black Tambourine OneTwoThreeFour EP

Reunited, rust-free shoegazers fondly cover four gentler Ramones classics, spark a soothing uproar. 8/10

Tenacious D Rize of the Fenix

The satire is worn thin in the Rock of Ages era, but duo still slays the Darkness' harmonies. 6/10

Session Victim The Haunted House of House

German ghostbusters chase specters of Chicago, Detroit, New York: It's a spiritual thing. 7/10

Guantanamo Baywatch Chest Crawl

Buncha Dickhead Dales from PDX make campy surf-t(h)rash. Even mix of bad breaks & sweet swells. 6/10

Bloody Knives Blood

Boo Radleys plus angst, Atari Teenage Riot minus Teutonic anger...You got your punk in my shoegaze! 7/10