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After the proggy overindulgence of their previous two albums, these Texans gracefully balance the dynamic alt rock of 2002's Source Tags & Codes with their more recent multimovement epics.

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Lily Allen was 21 when the catchy, cheeky Alright, Still was released in 2006, and notoriety has followed her ever since: In the past couple of years, she's sold millions of records, feuded with Amy Winehouse, drunkenly suggested that copresenter Elton John sod off at an awards show, and tearfully blogged on MySpace about feeling fat and ugly.

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Whether spitting some of Lauren Conrad's broken language while airing out an ex-homey in the oddly touching "Frienemies" or extolling the healing properties of women's nether regions on "Medicine," New York hustler Jim Jones is, despite his own best efforts, effortlessly charming.

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In 2005, Living Things' debut album, Ahead of the Lions, felt like a cathartic call to arms for a war-weary country that had sold its soul. Now America's problems are even more dire, but its mood has changed. As such, the strength of this follow-up is not the defiant antiestablishment fist-pumping (though there's plenty), but the tunes.

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These Smiths-loving, post-hardcore pioneers most likely recruited Flaming Lips and MGMT producer Dave Fridmann to finally disassociate their sound from the second- generation emo they helped define. But rather than straining for pop sophistication, Fridmann simply brightens and focuses the band's darker, more obtuse corners.

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Pop music doesn't allow for many third bites at the apple, but here's Stephen Patrick Morrissey chomping away. It's the Dr. Dre career path: Both led epoch-defining groups, both sustained smart, healthy solo careers that collapsed with a thud in the mid-'90s, and both came roaring back to life. We look forward to a possible collabo on Detox.