The Almost, 'Southern Weather' (Tooth & Nail/ Virgin)

God-fearing sideman tones down the noisy torment.

On his side-project debut, drummer Aaron Gillespie works outside the boundaries of his bills-paying gig with Underoath, dropping that band's emo-tinged Christian metal in favor of slickly produced, radio-ready rock.

Keren Ann, 'Keren Ann' (Metro Blue/ Blue Note)

Sleepwalker or malcontent? She could be both.

Dutch-Israeli singer Keren Ann Zeidel's sad-eyed folk-pop ballads hit the brain's late-night pleasure spot, but consuming too many at once can feel like overdosing on extrastrength cough syrup. Her third U.S. release subtly tweaks that formula, adding ambient blips, electric guitars, and even some gently up-tempo grooves.

The Moonbabies, 'Moonbabies at the Ballroom' (Hidden Agenda/ Parasol)

Sweeping, bouncy boy/girl melodies -- it must be Sweden.

On their fourth album, this indie-pop duo -- multi-instrumentalists/ songwriters Carina Johansson and Ola Frick -- create what finally could be their Stateside breakthrough.

Poison the Well, 'Versions' (Ferret)

Punk-metal survivors reach a new level of brutal nuance.

Despite a dismal major-label run and countless lineup shake-ups in nine years, these Florida noisecore vets have rebounded to make the album of their career.

Scharpling and Wurster, 'The Art of the Slap' (Stereolaffs)

Wreaking havoc on the total absurdity of the music world.

Over the past decade, Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and WFMU radio DJ Tom Scharpling have become one of the most inspired comedy duos ever, and definitely the rock-savviest.

Khan, 'Who Never Rests' (Tomlab)

When musicians become what they once tried to destroy.

Remember the late '90s, when electronic music was going to rescue us from boring rock'n'roll? Who would have figured that a decade on, some of techno's would-be saviors would be making boring rock'n'roll?

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