If your familiarity with Nada Surf is limited to their Weezer-esque mid-90s alt-rock radio hit “Popular,” you’ve missed out on a group maturing from those dime-a-dozen copycat beginnings to become true indie songsmiths. Their fifth full-length, Lucky, expands on the strengths of 2005’s great The Weight Is a Gift, pushing the band’s sound into more complex songwriting waters. The emotional range on this record is vast, from driving near anthems to breezy summer-morning vibes, and singer/guitarist Matthew Caw’s voice floats effortlessly and naturally atop all of it. The constant lyrical themes throughout the songs are restlessness, longing and the elusiveness of love, but you’d barely know it from the chiming, almost hopeful sounding guitars, perfect harmonies and propulsive rhythms. The first pressing comes with a bonus disc including 4 non-album tracks. (Fred)

On his fourth album, singer-songwriter and home-recording aficionado Kelley Stoltz completes his gradual progression from lo-fi to “mid-hi,” serving up a strong and diverse collection of modern pop classics that reference The Kinks (oh, he clearly loves Ray Davies), the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Playing nearly all of the instruments himself (with the help of a saxophone player and an additional musician here and there), Stoltz pretty much singlehandedly captures the charisma and spirit of a full 1960s band, without ever sounding derivative or retro. From the sunny hooks of “Everything Begins” and “When You Forget” to the slightly trippy beauty of “Gardenia” and the flawless rock and roll of “To Speak to the Girl,” Circular Sounds is an immensely enjoyable trip back to the glory days of pop songwriting. (Kiri)

Dead Meadow’s latest is already touted as the album closest to an instant classic that we’ll get this year. Ten years in the making, Old Growth is THE album that both fans and critics of the much lauded decade-old trio have waited for. The indie darlings’ heavily hyped release boasts an impressive blend of hard and psychedelic rock delivered with the perfect amount of punch. At other times, the band’s skillful restraint pervades the album, lending an affecting elegance and richness that’s rare in today’s soundscape of angular guitars and electronic beats and bleeps. Their sound’s a throwback to the 60s and 70s, and both their chops and pastoral moments are reminiscent of the granddaddies of epic rock, Led Zeppelin. (They even have Tolkien inspired lyrics to boot!) But enough said – take it with you on your next road trip and let it speak for itself. (Carrie)

Reid recorded this album in Senegal with local musicians, but there’s lots of stylistic variety. The opening track is a low-key introduction, acoustic and drumless, but after that it’s more what we expect from Reid, definitely funkier than his duo recordings with Keiran Hebden (Four Tet). Often the tracks gradually build in density, with Reid’s beats becoming more intricate and ornate as the intensity grows. The title track has strong African flavors but also odd synth burblings that keep it from being retro. “Jiggy Jiggy” is nine minutes of hard-driving Latin funk, with Reid laying down a powerful, subtly varied groove. “Dabronxxar” is spacey fusion jazz featuring trumpet, electric piano riffing, and, again, grooving juggernaut Reid; Hebden contributes some freaky electronics. Fat organ chords set the modal tone on “Big G’s Family,” which sports Santana-esque Latin-rock timbres complete with coruscating guitar. We’re back in spacey fusion jazz territory again on “Don’t Look Back,” but with a harder edge and more probing guitar. This disc is a must for anyone into adventurous soul-jazz grooves. (Steve)

On his third solo album, Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene is full of great wide-open gusto but is a little too pensive to actually get up and start running – which makes the title of the album (Here’s to Being Here) entirely fitting. Collett, seen on the cover unshaven and wearing a flannel shirt, plays indie cowboy as he channels a little Springsteen edge and a bit of Dylan’s lazy twang. But he can’t hide his art-rock roots with a little harmonica and a couple songs that start with “roll on,” especially with feature appearances from a handful of his friends, including Andrew Whiteman of Apostles of Hustle and BSS, Liam O’Neil of the Stills and Tony Scherr. But his album is at its best when his roots are exposed -in “Sorry Lori” Collett gives away his Canadian tongue when he rhymes “Lori” with “sorry.” It’s way cute. (Margi)

From the comfort of his bedroom, multi-instrumentalist Quinn Walker has recorded the 29 ramshackle musical gems present on his first double solo record Laughter’s an Asshole/Lion Land, released on the Brooklyn-based label Voodoo Eros Records, started by Bianca Casady of CocoRosie. From the lo-fi country of “Porcupine” to the Dirty Projectors-influenced “Up Here the Air is Fresh and Sweet” with its disjointed melody and grating falsetto, Walker’s influences are diverse and bring to mind Animal Collective, Ariel Pink, Panda Bear, and even The Flaming Lips in the psychedelic experimentations of “Heaven with You Tonight.” This chaotic and unhinged alternative country/ psychedelic/ theatrical/ unclassifiable concept album makes for a mind-blowing listening experience. (Morgane)

It sprawls, but you probably knew that already. Twelve songs here, beginning with Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s vocal contortions and working outwards, eventually splintering into walls of keyboard heroics, furious percussion and nimble riffs. The energy level never really subsides on this, the Mars Volta’s fourth album, though a few passages manipulate seemingly found sounds into something unsettling. Voices become nightmarish audio collages at the end of “Agadez”, while a sound not unlike cellular distortion opens and closes “Ouroboros”. When you’re crossing genre lines to the extent that this group does, at times there are stumbles – the opening of “Goliath” doesn’t sound quite as huge as it should, for instance. Nonetheless, few can pull off the sweeping, epic-yet-accessible moments that this band achieves when they’re at their peak. (Toby)