Lily Allen, 'Alright, Still' (Capitol)
Witty Brit brat calls out the phonies.
By Mikael Wood 02.19.07 4:00 AM
In "LDN," a breezy reggae-pop jam from her debut album, 21-year-old Lily Allen describes a bike ride through her hometown of London and notes that objects in her mirror are more screwed up than they appear. "When you look with your eyes / Everything seems nice," she chirps.
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Sondre Lerche, 'Phantom Punch' (Astralwerks)
Norwegian pop waif decides to crank up his guitar.
By Douglas Waterman 02.17.07 4:00 AM
On the heels of last year's The Duper Sessions -- his total immersion in neo-Tin Pan Alley craftiness -- Lerche obviously wanted to loosen up and rock a little.
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Sonic Youth, 'The Destroyed Room: B-sides and Rarities' (Geffen)
Odds and ends from those veteran guitar thinkers.
By Joe Gross 02.15.07 4:00 AM
As aging punks who value the album-as-statement, Sonic Youth release anthologies that hang together remarkably well (see their indie-'80s primer and video collection Screaming Fields of Sonic Love).
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Lee Hazlewood, 'Cake or Death' (Ever)
The fascinating curtain call of a brilliant, bizarre career.
By Andrew Beaujon 02.15.07 4:00 AM
Lee Hazlewood's farewell to the recording industry is as oblique as his journey through it, which took him from producing Duane Eddy to saving Nancy Sinatra's career to making a series of ever-more-baffling and often genius solo albums in the '70s.
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Dustin Kensrue, 'Please Come Home' (Equal Vision)
Thrice frontman hates sin, loves acoustic guitars. Amen.
By David Peisner 02.15.07 4:00 AM
Some artists use solo projects to chase wild hairs. But here, Dustin Kensrue exorcises tunes that are far too conservative -- musically and ideologically -- for Thrice, the heady, prog-leaning emo outfit he fronts.
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On the Cover: Fall Out Boy
The brand extensions. The celebrity hookups. And what's with the R&B? Fall Out Boy grow up in public.
By Brian Raftery; Spin Staff 02.15.07 4:00 AM
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