Vampire Weekend long ago embraced fame when its members became recognizable by their own names. Ezra Koenig is a present day indie icon, Rostam Batmanglij works in the not-so-dim shadows of other bands’ songs, and Chris Tomson’s charismatic drumming earns him a spotlight. Bassist Chris Baio, by default, becomes the forgotten one. The Names is his attempt to change that.

It’s easier than it should be to make fun of Duran Duran. Their 1980s heyday saw them churn out some of the greatest pop melodies of the era—“Hungry Like the Wolf” is an all-time great, no matter what anyone says.

Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? aged with such grace that it still prompts the question: Why weren’t Metric pulled into the popular ring when it debuted in 2003? Its snappy guitar lines and whiplashed words were poppy enough for the radio but smirked with its own personality.

Battles’ debut Mirrored is still one of the most notable albums of the last several years. It managed to present a wholly weird sound—experimental rock built not on electronics, but filtered through them in a visceral and unique way—and somehow masquerade it as pop music.

Telekinesis’ Michael Benjamin Lerner pieced together their last record, Dormarion, with a vibrant mix of all the musical ideas that came before it. The result was a sonic collage of possibilities, whereas Ad Infinitum feels like an exploration of just one of many. Most of the punk rock energy and guitars are left behind for rich synths, and rhythm parts are almost exclusively limited to throbbing basslines and drum loops.

Dom Mariani has played the role of Australian power pop god for many years. For Datura4, Mariani pairs with Greg Hitchcock for a completely different kind of power, ‘70s blues-based hard rock.

Perhaps all Craig Finn needed was a slight change-of-scenery—his latest solo album is his best work since The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive. Instead of chugging bar rock and singalongs, this album is filled with quiet moments and character studies.

The 24-year-old Cape Town, South Africa artist Yannick Ilunga’s music isn’t little and it isn’t dark. Sure, the music he’s released as Petite Noir is full of miniature percussive cheers and ominous bass, but Ilunga is more about titular contradictions than he is straightforward parallelism.

Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk and their bassist (Steve Garrington has served in the role since 2011) have long been making only two kinds of records; completely essential, passionate, cohesive and cogent statements, or those that are merely excellent and serve as a nice collection of tunes.