Four new release albums reviewed. How do new offerings from Bruce Springsteen, The Shins, The Wedding Present and Deep Sea Arcade all fare? Hear a compilation of songs from these albums on a Crikey earworm playlist via the RDIO music streaming service here.

Tindersticks: The Something Rain [Lucky Dog] Some bands arrive fully formed. Their debut albums are such a perfect distillation of their aesthetic they quickly suffer the curse of diminishing returns on subsequent releases. Such is Tindersticks’ fate. The Nottingham troubadours’ 1993 first set, Tindersticks (aka Tindersticks I), so beautifully captured their late-night smokey tales of [...]

Lana Del Rey: Born To Die [Universal] The critical backlash against Lana Del Rey began even before her debut album Born To Die arrived. Hipsters initially bewitched by the immediately beguiling Video Games felt betrayed when it became clear her puffy-lipped persona and – no! – even her name were invented. Much internet scorn was [...]

Cloud Nothings: Attack On Memory [Carpark Records] Attack On Memory is a thumping addition to cult producer Steve Albini’s CV. Nobody’s better at capturing raw drum and guitar sounds. Such is Albini’s dedication to not sugarcoating production, he prefers the moniker ‘recording engineer’. He’s the man (but not The Man) for bands wanting to capture their [...]

The Little Willies: For The Good Times [EMI] The Little Willies (stop sniggering – you’re oh so childish) are jazz-pop singer-songwriter Norah Jones’s country music side project. For The Good Times (STOP sniggering) is their second album of country covers casually knocked out between her millions-selling, Grammy Awards-winning solo efforts.

The Big Pink: Future This [4AD/Remote Control] Who decreed synths are suddenly acceptable again? They’re everywhere. The 1980s are back in a big way. The Big Pink are on the synth-pop bandwagon with the ironically-titled — considering its 1980s throwback nature — Future This seeing English duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell pitching their sound directly [...]

Howler – America Give Up [Rough Trade/Remote Control] Minneapolis group Howler are the latest, great white hopes trying to haul indie rock out of the doldrums with debut set America Give Up. Likened to 2001-era The Strokes by the NME, Howler come on like an amalgam of New York’s finest, East Kilbride’s finest The Jesus & Mary [...]

Big Deal: Lights Out [Mute] There’s quite an age gap between boy/girl (man/woman?) Big Deal band members Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe. They met when 29-year-old American Underwood was teaching the 18-year-old British Costelloe how to play guitar. Big deal, right? Well, it’d be easier to overcome such a — to some — troubling age gap [...]

Snow Patrol: Fallen Empires [Universal] Snow Patrol’s sixth album, Fallen Empires, initially has the – obligatory mention – Grey’s Anatomy TV show soundtrack favourites trying to convince us there’s always been a dance element to their music. Opening tracks I’ll Never Let Go and Called Out In The Dark marry electro-loops and beats to Snow [...]