La Roux “Trouble in Paradise” Polydor The title of La Roux’s sophomore studio effort is retroactively ironic, should one choose to consider the recent split — and subsequent Twitter spat — of singer Elly Jackson and producer Ben Langmaid. As such, it would appear that “Trouble in Paradise” is the

Red Wanting Blue “Little America” Fanatic Records Depending on how you look at it, Little America’s opening track, “Hallelujah,” is either the best or worst track to start the album. On the plus side, it’s a tremendous table-setter with its huge, sweeping sound and frontman Scott Terry’s Marcus Mumford-esque vocals.

Morrissey “World Peace is None of Your Business” Capitol The title track of Morrissey’s 10th solo album is one of the most eye-rollingly pretentious things he’s ever done. If you’re even slightly familiar with Morrissey’s work, you know what a tall order that is. Once he gets that out of

Robin Thicke “Paula” Interscope I don’t know if Robin Thicke is really a horrible person or not, but there’s no doubt he’s got a bad habit of ruining everything he touches lately. “Blurred Lines” was bad. Not necessarily as bad as it was made out to be, but then Thicke

Phish “Fuego” ATO Records People don’t tend to care much about Phish’s studio albums. There’s just something about that “live jam” feel that the band has never really been able to translate into a studio cut. But, you know, hope springs eternal. So is “Fuego” the album that makes people

Cerebral Ballzy “Jaded & Faded” Cult If hardcore skater punk is your thing, Cerebral Ballzy is your band. The longest song they’ve ever written is just over three minutes long, and lead singer Honor Titus carries a kind of lyric drawl that’s somewhere between Joey Ramone and Mike Muir. “Jaded

Lana Del Rey “Ultraviolence” Polydor There’s a school of thought that says “Ultraviolence” is an unnecessary album. Del Rey herself seemed on the fence about making any more music after 2012’s “Born to Die,” and, indeed, many people found that album to be nothing more than a one-trick pony, albeit

Chrissie Hynde “Stockholm” Caroline I was never the world’s biggest Pretenders fan, but I’ve always enjoyed Chrissie Hynde. This is admittedly a hefty paradox because, more than any other component, Hynde WAS the Pretenders. As the years progressed, Hynde wrote more and more of the band’s output on her own,

Echo & The Bunnymen “Meteroites” 429 The “personal approach” taken by Ian McCulloch in the 11th Echo and the Bunnyman’s album is, quite simply, sublime. The liner notes talk about McCulloch’s “complex relationship” with his father, which seems like tired ground for a band as established as this. But instead

Buzz Osborne “The Machine Kills Artists” Ipecac Osborne, legendary front man of The Melvins, has picked 2014 as the year to come forth with his first solo acoustic album. And, ever after 30 years of work to look back on and draw comparisons to, King Buzzo manages to come out