FLOOD

The Massachusetts grungegazers settle on their sound with their second LP: a balancing of frantic energy with moody heaviness and an overall tone of passionately charged emo splendor.

John Dwyer has crafted his most overtly political album yet in terms of both its lyrical and musical attack, with his band’s recent linear and pared-down punk style put to enjoyably cutthroat use.

Alex Giannascoli’s major-label debut earnestly embraces dated musical tropes only to turn them on their heads as they soundtrack explosions of messy emotional honesty.

This seamless collaboration fuses the Icelandic composer’s gentle, piano-based soundscapes with the late Irish artist’s poignant electronica and singular voice without ever feeling saccharine.

The LA band’s eighth LP eschews distortion in favor of a cleaner pop-punk sound that both spotlights Nathan Williams’ songwriting chops and dulls the project’s compelling eccentricities.

Another collection of relentlessly charming and eccentric garage rock, this fifth album doubles down on the Welsh band’s signature stylized-raw production and unusual lyrics.

The tone of the Chicago post-metal band’s first album in six years feels triumphant, like ascending the peak of the mountain that adorns its cover.

The Chicago trio’s fourth album stands tall as their most positive and sincere effort yet, glossing their emotionally resonant emo revivalism with a hard coat of power-pop paint.

The Virginia rapper’s guest-filled latest is a stellar collection of bright, diverse, and downright gorgeous hip-hop that’s so light-on-its-feet it can sometimes feel like it’s sweeping you off yours.

The UK stoner-metal outfit’s fifth studio album is another collection of pummelling, heavy thrills, the sound of grimy darkness being warped into something transcendently fun.

The noise-rock trio’s first full-length in 11 years has all the punch and zip of a debut statement, and even feels a degree or two more thrillingly lean than its predecessors.

Calling back to the “big swing” pop-punk records from the turn of the millennium, the Connecticut band’s sophomore release is emotionally intelligent and impressively fine-tuned.

Fusing together the stripped-bare ambient-pop and dancier art-pop of the trilogy’s previous titles, the Bloc Party vocalist’s latest project often feels both overstuffed and too restrained.

The UK duo hurls hand grenades in the direction of contemporary society’s myriad ills across their riotously fun yet deadly serious indie-punk debut.

This new collected discography celebrating the upbeat, joy-emanating guitar-rockers polishes up their all-too-brief run while including a few new surprises. High-fives all around.

The breathless riffs, ferocious pace, and veteran sense of security that define this debut album from the metalcore supergroup feel like the work of a band desperate to escape their history.

John Dwyer details the “tightened up and screwed down” sci-fi punk of his prolific band’s 29th full-length.