I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN CHAINS

A few quick thoughts on the 2009 albums I don't have enough to say about to warrant more full-featured write-ups:

It's Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Sample)

It's a little more electronic and dance-oriented than the band's previous albums but, other than that, this is basically more of the same. That isn't bad, though; Karen O still has a powerful vocal prescience (though she's more restrained by the heavy focus on rhythm here), Nick Zinner still turns out nicely jagged guitar riff with seeming ease and the band still knows how to crank out the hooks. It has basically the same problems as their other records, too (the singles overshadowing the album tracks, throwaway lyrics) but that comes with this territory. Nothing more or less than another set of Yeah Yeah Yeahs tunes, It's Blitz won't likely win the band any new fans but it will keep their base satisfied and sometimes it's okay for a band to do that, particularly when their established formula works as well as it does here.

Hold Time - M. Ward (Sample)

The only evidence that this is M. Ward's first album after his participation in the highly successful She & Him project (with acclaimed indie actress Zooey Deschenel) is that the production is a touch more polished than his others (oh, and Deschenel turns up to do backup vocals on "Never Had Nobody Like You"); a few more string-sweetened passages , a fairly good Luncinda Williams cameo and a more generalized sonic clarity. That said, it provides everything Ward's fans have come to expect: cabaret piano-ballads (the title track), country tunes ("Rave On"), spindly folk ("For Beginners") and melodic guitar-rock ("Never Had Nobody Like You"), all delivered with Ward's light-brush vocal tones and impeccable lyrical guitar work. Sometimes the production can overwhelm the songs ("Jailbird" is severely underwritten), but, really, Ward's hit a successful streak of records since he decided to start singing and this is no exception.

Life On Earth - Tiny Vipers (Sample)

Three words: female Mark Kozelek. If that doesn't sell you, I don't know what to say.

Hymn To The Immortal Wind - Mono (Sample)

Basically, every new Mono record sounds like the previous one with one new thing added. In this case, they bring in sweeping string arrangements to compliment the already-powerful emotional force of their carefully composed instrumental post-rock. Sometimes the strings take the songs from "emotive" to "cheesy" but, most of the time, they work wonders. Mono's one of those bands that people tend to either "get" or not; if you "got" them before, rest assured you still will here.

Sounds of the Universe - Depeche Mode (Sample)

It's no Violator but, then again, what is? A step up from the band's previous album Playing the Angel (which I thought relied far too heavily on overly-watery and cheap-sounding synth tones), this record hearkens back to the more rock-influenced Depeche records of the early 90's; in my book, that's a good thing. The songwriting is, of course, not as consistent (and there's nothing of the caliber of "Enjoy The Silence" on here) but it's still fairly sturdy. Highlights include the bent funk of "In Chains", the vintage Nintendo-sounding "Fragile Tension" and the sweeping industrial grind of "Come Back".