Spoon, 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' (Merge)

Rock's masters of minutiae keep us guessing.

Here's a short list of things Spoon frontman Britt Daniel has written wrenching songs about: chloroform, a promotional cassette, a metal detector, a fitted shirt, his former A&R rep.

Bad Religion, 'New Maps of Hell' (Epitaph)

From Reagan to Bush, the punk-rock thesis continues.

What happens when one of the best SoCal punk bands to protest the God-fearing, warmongering Reagan '80s sticks around long enough to write about an even bigger mess?

John Vanderslice, 'Emerald City' (Barsuk)

Turning terrifying headlines into riveting story-songs.

With a gift for creating troubled, realistic characters, gloomy San Francisco songwriter John Vanderslice excels at evoking a simmering dread, and Emerald City may be his most unsettling work yet.

Ulrich Schnauss, 'Goodbye' (Domino)

Lovely "auf Wiedersehen" from downbeat digital maestro.

Judging from his album titles, Ulrich Schnauss always seems to be leaving or long gone. The sounds matched the sentiment on the Berliner's first two releases, 2001's Far Away Trains Passing By and 2003's A Strangely Isolated Place -- gracefully melancholic electronica with too much soul to be relegated to sushi-restaurant background music.

Maps, 'We Can Create' (Mute)

Electronic soundscapes that Maddie and Duckie would love.

James Chapman's first long-player sounds like it was recorded the way Cybill Shepherd was filmed for the '80s TV show Moonlighting -- through gauzy cloth and serenely backlit.

Circus Devils, 'Sgt. Disco' (Ipecac)

Another half-assed addition to Mr. Pollard's opus.

Still hoping Robert Pollard has another Bee Thousand in his dusty, song-filled attic?

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