Giddyup! It's a record review roundup!

I've heard a couple albums recently and wish to voice my opinions on them. Am I talking to the right person? If not, could you please transfer me? Yes, I'll hold.

The Sea and Cake's Everybody pretty much sounds like all the other Sea and Cake albums, but it's really great and gets better with every listen.

The Innocence Mission's We Walked In Song pretty much sounds like all the other Innocence Mission albums, but it's kind of forgettable.

Fountains of Wayne's Traffic and Weather pretty much sounds like all the other Fountains of Wayne albums, but it's actually kind of bad.

Tracy Thorn's Out of the Woods sounds like a work of obligation from an artist for whom the thrill is long gone.

Brett Anderson's eponymous album sounds like a work of obligation from an artist for whom the thrill is long gone.

Maxïmo Park's Our Earthly Pleasure shows that what made their first album great was not the sound but the songs. And these songs just aren't as good.

Amy Winehouse's Back to Black is beautifully produced and arranged, but ultimately ruined by that oft-unacknowledged irony: that imitating the style and accent of a soul singer is faking a kind of music that takes its very name from sincerity.

Lavender Diamond threw out all the good stuff from their first EP and kept all the cheesy stuff that might remind some cynics of, like, Enya.

Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah's Some Loud Thunder has some great songs that are marred by the singer's wildly successful attempts to annoy everybody.

Speaking of albums that are Marr-ed, the new Modest Mouse record is pretty good, but mostly worthwhile for those moments when you think, "There could be no one playing that guitar part but Johnny Marr." And all is right with the world.

I think that Bloc Party somehow heard me when I thought, "Could this album be more boring?" and took it as a challenge.

Ozomatli's Don't Mess With the Dragon is, sadly, pretty bad.

Dntel's Dumb Luck is, in a word, blippy. All those guest vocalists are gonna get you all excited, but they must have all left the studio with their heads hung low, thinking the same thing: "Aw, damn. Jimmy's setting all his good stuff aside for the next Postal Service record."

Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha is good, but not nearly as good as the first few listens led me to believe.

Sarah Shannon's City Morning Song is good, but not nearly as good as the first few listens led me to believe.

Thanks for stopping by, and on your way out, please pause by the giveaway bin and check out some songs that our staff recommends by Sondre Lerche, the Apples In Stereo, Panda Bear and The Klaxons.