Lydia Loveless
"Real"
(Bloodshot (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK))
Lydia Loveless records for an alt-country label, and she has a classic honky-tonk singer's stage name _ she was born Lydia Ankrom. So it's no surprise the Ohio songwriter gets typecast as a country singer.
But "Real," the 25-year-old guitarist's fourth full-length album, moves her more confidently into the "genre-agnostic" artistic territory she's aiming for. Songs like the swoony "Longer" and chiming "More Than Ever" show the influence of heroes like Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, and "Heaven" proudly brandishes an affection for gleaming '80s pop. Listen closely, however, and you'll hear that, beneath the inviting surface, Loveless retains a penchant for unvarnished emotionalism.
"If self-control is what you want," she sings, in the words of a unrepentant truth-texter, "I'd have to break all my fingers off." The shimmering "Out on Love" showcases her powerhouse voice. "Midwestern Guys" packs an unsentimental punch. And the title cut toys with issues of authenticity that might apply to her own artistic identity, while warily regarding a deceptive suitor. "I know just how it feels," she sings, "when you make it seem real."
_ Dan DeLuca
Dinosaur Jr.
"Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not"
(Jagjaguwar (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK))
J Mascis' achievements go beyond training his adorable bulldog, Beefy, to be an expert skateboarder. (Watch the video for the lead single "Tiny.") The white-haired Dinosaur Jr. leader has also managed the equally unlikely feat of continuing to make his band's snarling guitar sound come off fresh long after its grunge-era heyday, despite _ or maybe because of _ taking off a full decade before 2007's "Hand It Over."
After 2012's strong "I Bet on Sky," he produces another formidable effort with "Give." Mascis' drawling vocals manage to sound both perfectly lazy, as though he could barely be bothered, and wholly committed to the punky, hippieish, Neil Young-flavored ragged glory that the Massachusetts band specialized in on much-loved efforts like 1987's "You're Living All Over Me" and 1991's "Green Mind." It helps, of course, that along with the chemistry between Mascis and original drummer Murph, Dinosaur Jr. boasts a second top-notch songwriter and singer in bassist Lou Barlow, whose contributions, "Love Is ... " and "Left / Right," provide high-quality changes of pace.
_ D.D.
Gucci Mane
"Everybody Looking"
(Atlantic (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK))
Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane was on an epic roll from 2005 (the release of his first album) to 2011 (the time of his last). From that point forward, the incendiary "Mouth of the South" with a raw verbal style and scorched-earth musicality found himself in a world of hurt, be it problems with drugs, Twitter wars, or the law. Incarcerated until spring, Mane _ a solid influence on Migos, Waka Flocka, and Young Thug _ came out of stir with incendiary ideals intact and metaphoric guns blazing, and "Everybody Looking is the result."
Entering Billboard's charts at No. 1, with the raging "1st Day Out Tha Feds" leading the charge, "Everybody Looking" is Gucci-lite, more pop than Mane's usually mad, mournful messiah complexities. In the loping "Back on Road" (with Drake along for the ride) and the silly, slippery "Gucci Please," Mane goes for the gold (rather than blood) on his first album in five years. He even has a song called "Pop Music" for good measure. But it gets only this sweet: "They know my Glocks sing my hooks and we call it pop music." Gucci's guns are still blazing. They just have silencers now.
_ A.D. Amorosi
IN STORES FRIDAY
De La Soul, "And the Anonymous Nobody"; Britney Spears, "Glory"; Florida Georgia Line, "Dig Your Roots"; Celine Dion, "Encore un soir"
