Dark Meat - Truce Opium
Though the hype – albeit of the most underground variety – around this Athens, Ga band has subsided a bit since the first tour in support of its first long player, Dark Meat came back in 2009 with a new disc. The same sort of revved up Detroitisms that the ‘60s lent Dark Meat’s first full length are present, but there’s a new element of song craft introduced on Truce Opium. These still aren’t pop songs, but the band has worked towards constructing sensible tracks. The extended jams are still present to sate old fans, so don’t worry.

Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
Fine, Mr. Reatard has earned himself the reputation – for good or bad – of being a bit difficult. His band ditched him relatively recently, but since recruiting some Europeans, Reatard and company have toured a bit with the Pixies (!!!). With Watch Me Fall being his most accessible and pop oriented album, fans might soon find this reatard garnering some major press. We’ll see, though.

The Beets - Spit On The Face Of People Who Don't Want To Be Cool
The fact that Spit On The Face Of People Who Don't Want To Be Cool was issued in some ridiculously small run didn’t help spread the good word of the Beets. The New York based duo comes off as something of a half way point between the Kinks and the Velvets if Lou Reed didn’t ever really wanna traffic in out and out noise. Regardless of its proclivities, the Beets just write some simple rock songs, but are able to render each with an urgency not found in too much music from 2009. These folks aren’t slated to get huge, just only better.

Westbound Train - Come and Get It
Come and Get It suffers only from Westbound Trains’ wide ranging musical interests. While singer Obie Fernandez is more than capable of handling vocals in any soul band, he’s fronting a band tied to JA music. It’s sometimes hard to remember that as the Boston based ensemble veers from blue eyed soul to ska and even into some ill advised roots territory. That being said, though, there’s not another band working now that’s capable of the same maneuvering. Taking a break recently, let’s just hope that this isn’t the final recorded salvo of a band that hasn’t yet accomplished all that it’s capable of.

Thee Oh Sees – Help!
John Dwyer probably composes songs in his sleep. What other way is there to explain such an insanely dense release schedule this year? There were two full lengths, at least three collections of b-sides and demos in addition to a slew of singles. It’s become difficult to follow the machinations of the band just as much as its recording schedule and the unruly genre jumping that these folks have undertaken in the last few years. Help!, though, represents the ensembles best balanced release including punky garage numbers and even some more folksy endeavors. The disc somehow manages to hold together – and there’s even a flute jam. Who say that coming?