The Dutchess & the Duke, 'Sunset/Sunrise' (Hardly Art)

Homespun Seattle pals refine scruffy heartbreak.

Singer-guitarists Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison have a noted Rolling Stones/Velvet Underground jones, but their music sounds equally connected to iconic lo-fi indie naifs Beat Happening.

Alice in Chains, 'Black Gives Way to Blue' (Virgin/EMI)

Kings of '90s pain slog on without frontman Staley.

Tom Brosseau, 'Posthumous Success' (Fatcat)

Crafty crooner slays with ambience and angst.

As this blues-bred, North Dakota–born folkie attests on his sixth album's standout jangle rocker, he's ready for the "Big Time" (or some variation thereof). On the bratty gem "You Don't Know My Friends," he's never been more believably torn up, and "Axe & Stump" quilts together quirky verse arrangements with a triumphant, Rhodes piano chorus.

Jason Lytle, 'Yours Truly, the Commuter' (Anti-)

Seclusion equals nostalgia for Sophtware Slump-er.

After dissolving his warmly existential outfit Grandaddy, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Jason Lytle escaped to the mountains of Montana. But instead of the nakedly emotional folk echoes of fellow isolationist Bon Iver, he's produced a textured homage to the lush and laid-back West Coast dream life of his youth.

New Found Glory, 'Not Without a Fight' (Epitaph)

Irrepressible pop-punk prats struggle to evolve.

The sixth studio album from this Florida five-piece represents a dual rebirth -- it's their return to an indie label and first full-length since experimenting with the cartoonishly thrashy side project International Superheroes of Hardcore.

Thursday, 'Common Existence' (Epitaph)

Fleeing screamo tag, Jersey crew look to neo-psych guru.

These Smiths-loving, post-hardcore pioneers most likely recruited Flaming Lips and MGMT producer Dave Fridmann to finally disassociate their sound from the second- generation emo they helped define. But rather than straining for pop sophistication, Fridmann simply brightens and focuses the band's darker, more obtuse corners.

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