The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost

“If you missed the Black Angels’ full-length debut, “Passover,” in 2006, let this effort be a reminder of your mistake. This troupe cranks out hazy, dark rock’n'roll—real, honest-to-God rock’n'roll—with disarming ease. From the ominous, churning guitars and moaning toms on opener “You on the Run” to the 16-plus minutes of epic closer “Snake in the Grass,” the quartet borrows from the sludgy psych of the Velvet Underground, squeals through the Jesus and Mary Chain and tops it off with singer Alex Maas’ creep-tastic, reverb-drenched howl. The breakdowns on songs like “Dee-Ree-Shee” and “You in Color” truly highlight each member’s technical and dynamic abilities; the crescendos emphasize their quantum power to make great art as a group. —Katie Hasty”

Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

I’m very torn as if this track will do anything on the radio. On one hand, its catchy, and i kind of dig it. On the other, I just don’t see it doing that well. I guess we’ll see. 6/10

Duffy - Rockferry

“The recent surge of Europeans retrofitting and upgrading 1960s soul rolls on in swirling style with this debut from Duffy, a Welsh singer/songwriter from the school of jazzy chanteuses who are here to maximize the international-but-not-too-international-for-Starbucks style, but sound quite lovely doing it anyway. “Rockferry” hits the major notes: “Warwick Avenue” is a string-smooched jazz number, the title cut is a towering wall of piano-powered sound with moody lyrics, and first single “Mercy” is about as summery as summery gets. Like all such records, “Rockferry” splits its time between paying tribute to its source material and knocking it off, but its principal’s vocals, and generally pleasing wall-of-sound treatment, make it a good move anyway. —Jeff Vrabel”