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The bummer about boy geniuses is that they feel ancient so soon. One day Conor Oberst is a teenage Dylan, scribbling metaphors while his friends' band-camp orchestras weave daisy chains around him, the next he's a 27-year-old J. Alfred Prufrock, singing, "I got old in an instant / Now I'm all on my own."

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Don't just take note of this doomy Brooklyn art-rock combo (featuring members of Skeleton Key, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Pere Ubu) because of the cameos by their famous friends: Tom Waits growling ("Pray"), Jon Langford sneering ("Boomtown"), Mike Watt reciting in deadpan ("Pedro to Cleveland").

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Cranking up the synths and dialing down the tension, this New York Sicilian-Japanese post-punk trio continues its slow-burn, 14-year procession away from harsh guitar atmospherics to mere atmosphere.

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Wilderness proves that no matter the setting, Stars frontman Torquil Campbell can effortlessly pen literate, melodically affecting pop tunes that sound like soap operas for postcollegiate bohos. But without Stars covocalist Amy Millan to kick him in the ass, plodders like "The Night Watchmen" find Campbell crossing over from melancholy to mopey.

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This duo's third release showcases skittering electronics framed by grounded, dynamic percussion, in ten brief, impressionistic tracks, all recorded live.

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While his recent album of '80s covers was a strangely tepid affair, singer/songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips rarely disappoints with his own introspective material. The gripping Strangelet strives for a tricky balance of darkness and light, lacing gloomy folk-rock melodies with messages of hope, and mostly succeeds, thanks to the raw charisma of Phillips' hangover vocals.