THE FRAY Scars & Stories

Epic

On past albums, the Fray’s stock-in-trade has been crafting earnest, piano-based tunes that successfully capture and articulate the simple yet complex interpersonal issues that life brings. Tracing both the exhilaration and despondency of love, these portraits also tended to expose the vulnerabilities, uncertainties and insecurities we all face.Drained of this pathos, the Fray’s music probably would not have resonated on the massive scale that it did. Scars is sort of the opposite. The music is at the forefront, while the lyrics tend to rely more on subtlety. While a few of the songs tread familiar ground, for the most part they draw from a much bolder and more dynamic palette. The aptly titled “Turn Me On,” with its sensuous groove, is perhaps the most notable of the bunch. There are a couple of numbers (“Heartbeat” and “Fighter”) that you can tell were built for arenas, but those are balanced with more organic moments like the interstateready “48 to Go” and “Here We Are,” which could be a natural extension of “We Build Then We Break.” Scars is an audacious step forward for the Fray.

— DAVE HERRERA

INTHEWHALE

Cake

Self-released

There’s a lot of Eagles of Death Metal influence happening here. In the first two songs alone — one called “Woman” and the other “34-28-32,” detailing her ideal measurements — In the Whale’s Eric Riley and Nate Valdez take on the brazen, balls-out machismo of bands like Queens of the Stone Age with the nerdy ambition of a pre-bloated Weezer. Propelled by a wall of guitar and sandwiched between Darkness-level falsetto and raucous stadium drums, the lyrics are part caveman, part country boy and overtly rock star. In the end, the guys split the difference, like a Wolfmother you can still take seriously. They might be only a step or two from the garage, but these are two bespectacled escapists who rock out with their cocks (and maybe their calculators) out.

— KELSEY WHIPPLE

LE DIVORCE

The Sting and the Light

Self-released

The Sting and the Light, Le Divorce’s latest effort, starts off with “Six Feet Under,” a bit of a rocker that quickly evolves into a surprisingly straight ahead pop song with jazzy undercurrents. In “Under Boxcars,” a breezy melody meets textured rhythm, while the layered atmospherics of “Splinter Song” evoke early-’90s dream pop without sounding retro in their long arc of sonic momentum. “I Won’t Call Them” and “I Shout” are reminiscent of Pulp, minus the decadence and undertone of resigned desperation. And in closer “Make Up Your Mind,” Le Divorce proves itself capable of expansive, orchestral songwriting. Emotionally poignant, filled with an eclectic but never diffuse sensibility, The Sting and the Light finds Le Divorce staking out its own voice.

— TOM MURPHY

CONCEPT ONE

Beautiful Disaster

Self-released

Concept One has poured the past four years of his life into one thematic project: Beautiful Disaster, his brand-new, fifteen-track fulllength. Dark and intimate in some places (“All Gonna Die”) and triumphant and motivated in others (“We Run This Shit”), Disaster serves as the ideal showcase for the American Trash Republic MC’s solid rhymes. Gangster tales mixed with real-life experiences are wrapped in solid production that cuts through the verses with a razor’s sharpness, making this joint especially appealing to the ear. Over the course of the album, Concept paints a picture of life’s ups and downs with a clear, clean flow, making the entire project all the more credible.

— RU JOHNSON