FLOOD

“United Crushers” presents its listeners with an all-encompassing wall of sound that makes the outside world fade away.

For Feels, noisiness isn’t a cop-out.

Canadian foursome Nap Eyes have proved to be at the top of their game when it comes to making witty, intellectual rock that could easily be the soundtrack to a slightly depressed professor’s life.

On the duo’s second album, “Stand Up and Speak,” DJDS (formerly known as DJ Dodger Stadium) create dynamism out of repetition and make meaning out of small things.

Bursting with ethereal harmonies and dripping with sun-kissed guitar riffs, “Late Bloomers’ Bloomers” is thirty-two minutes of fuzzy, wine-drunk jams that manages to be sophisticated, sleazy, raucous, and dreamy all at once.

Small Black is still making dizzy electro-pop, but this time their tracks reach deeper, with heavier themes and better production.

In the end, “I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler” is too caught up in its own gimmicks to tread any new ground.

On their way to achieving this new sound, JR JR has sacrificed the sincerity that made them special in the first place.