Yes, this was originally released on their own Dull Tools label in 2012, so technically this is not a 2013, but it was re-released early this year on What’s Your Rupture? and that exposed them to a much wider audience. That’s a good thing as this is an absolutely great record that recalls, but never mimics, the best parts of The Modern Lovers, early Wire, The Feelies and on the last track, classic lineup Guided by Voices. The lyrics (refreshingly) have something to say, too, with “Careers in Combat” being an implicit criticism of and comment on life as part of the millennial generation in the U.S.

This marks the first House of Love album since 2005’s Days Run Away and like that reunion album features guitarist Terry Bickers. Regardless, like the also fine new album from UK contemporaries Kitchens of Distinction, this is an older, wiser, mellower, but no less engaging House of Love than the beloved ’86-‘94 group.

I like this album a lot, but given the hype and anticipation after the jaw-dropping “Flying to Berlin” b/w “Husbands” single from last year, I can’t help but feel just a little disappointed at the end result. Still, the re-recorded “Husbands” is great, if not quite as cutting and jarring as the single version, and any album that has the starkness, aggression and Siouxsie Sioux-like vocals of Jenny Beth along with tunes like “No Face,” “City’s Full” and “She Will” along with the bold, pulsating bass lines of Ayse Hassan should not be discounted!

Yes, it’s true. The Last have finally released a follow-up to 1996’s Gin & Innuendoes. The 17 year wait was worth it as this is a lean, mean, passionate version of The Last, now with Descendents/ALL rhythm section Karl Alvarez and drummer Bill Stevenson backing Joe Nolte and Mike Nolte. At times, it is a more punk-sounding record than some of their previous work as ’60s-influenced power-pop legends, but classics like “Unreal Love” and “I’m Not Crazy” rank alongside their very best work and the whole thing is an energetic gas that just begs repeated plays!

Following 2007’s atrocious The Weirdness, I had very low expectations for this. Thankfully, this is a much, much better album and a more fitting addition to their legacy. The addition of James Williamson‘s still-potent guitar helps things considerably here, as does the fact that Iggy Pop is singing in a more normal, much less forced voice. I even like the quieter, more contemplative material found amidst the upbeat, raucous rockers. Even Raw Power had incredible slow-burners like “Gimme Danger” and “I Need Somebody.” Still, while some of the riffs may remind old fans of that aforementioned 1973 classic, in reality this album has way more in common with Iggy’s 1979 solo classic New Values or Kill City, his 1975 collaboration with Williamson.

After releasing 2012’s raw, solo, almost skeletal, yet moving American Weekend (described memorably by someone I have only met a few times as “Jandek with melody”), Katie Crutchfield followed it up a year later with the year’s finest singer-songwriter record. This time, though, the sound is brighter, lighter and a bit louder with some songs approaching full-band dynamics. It is, however, no less emotional with highlights including “Peace and Quiet” and the closing “You’re Damaged” amidst what sound like haunting family narratives in songs like “Dixie Cups and Jars.”

At first, for whatever reason, I didn’t quite connect with this album. There have been more than a few bands in the last few influenced by Lush and yes, singer Stephanie Min is at times a dead ringer for Miki Berenyi. After more plays, the record got a hold of me. It’s not particularly deep lyrically, at least from what I can make out, but the action is in the deep grooves and lilting psych of closer “Before You Reach the End” along with the undeniable pop hooks of “See You” and “Mallory.”

Here we have not just the finest record that this New Jersey melodic hardcore punk band have made to date, but the best record in its genre in quite some time. Sure, musically speaking influences from early ’80s OC abound (particularly The Adolescents and D.I.) and as such this is easy to love for fans of that sound and style like me, but the faster tempos and topical (though not overly serious) lyrics definitely scream 2013, not 1983. A standout.

I have only heard this record within the last few weeks, but have played it so much that it merits inclusion here. A unique record, it reimagines hazy dream-pop if it was sung by Allison Statton of Young Marble Giants (vocalist Charlie Hilton sometimes reminds me of her), and features a unique guitar sound along with cello that blends into the murky mix, but doesn’t overwhelm the gorgeous, sad sound found here.

Though I liked some of what I heard by them, I’d never really warmed up to The Men before this album from earlier this year. It finds them incorporating way more country and folk-rock into their sound, particularly in the first half of the album, and on more than one occasion the influence of Neil Young and Crazy Horse is audible. Still, “Half Angel Half Light” is their best song to date and all of it is worthy of repeated plays. I’m really excited to hear where they head next.