All of the riffs are just fun. But this is a band that knows their biggest strength is their vocalist, so all they do is support her. And it works so well.

Every song is catchy and fun, and even though it’s not an inspirational record, the sense of joy throughout is palpable. This band is just happy to be making music, and it shows. I love this record.

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But every year, there’s a couple metal records that come out that are well-produced and just stupidly good. This is one of those records.

A couple years ago, Lamb of God’s vocalist was (wrongly) imprisoned in the Czech Republic for the death of a fan at one of Lamb of God’s shows. And this is the first record the band has made since his release.

And he sounds mad.

This is the sort of thing that makes for a great metal record: pure, focused aggression. This is the best Lamb of God record since As the Palaces Burn, one of their earliest. They have not been this on fire for probably around a decade, if not longer. These guys sound amazing. The guitar work is insane, their drummer is a beast, and vocalist Randy Blythe sounds positively possessed.

I wouldn’t describe this as a pop record, but if you need something new to work out to at the gym, or to run to, or to listen to in rush hour traffic, this is tops.

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The record is basically Rodney-Hall getting inventive and exploring a little bit about what gets him excited, and you can tell he’s just happy to be making music. Compared to some of the hip hop beats you might be used to, Rodney-Hall’s will sound a little less produced (particularly at a higher volume), but this is a guy with a lot of great ideas.

What I like about Rodney-Hall is that he reminds me more of Tycho than he does of a hip hop backing track. And it’s great for him to explore this a little more fully. This album is mostly electronic, mostly inspired, and largely pretty good. Give it a listen before this label blows up.

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This record is brimming with all sorts of different ideas and wild verses. It’s also going to be a love it or hate it kind of thing. The vocals are a little out there, and the layered electronics make this feel like some kind of musical zoo. This might be a “poppy” approach from Gang Gang Dance, but that’s sort of like saying elephants sometimes tread softly. This is still an inventive, unusual, not-entirely-approachable record.

And I think that’s a great thing, for the record. I love music like this. Gang Gang Dance are unafraid to experiment, unafraid to try new things, and generally kicking all sorts of butt and taking names while they do it. That’s the best way to make music, and the only reason to do it these days.

In a world where all the sounds have already been made, Gang Gang Dance are offering some unique interpretations of a few of them. And that’s worth the price of admission.

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The Names is a good mix of electronic and pop that’s really nothing like Vampire Weekend. Where they specialize in weird genre-tripping music, The Names almost feels more conventional (or about as conventional as trippy electronic pop can be).

That doesn’t mean it’s not a great record; it just means that it’s a bit of a different record. It’s one of the catchiest I’ve heard this year, and it’s got some wild sounds and interesting experiments on it.

I wonder if the next Vampire Weekend record will borrow from this style…

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