Sheer Mag have built their reputation on monster guitar licks (think Thin Lizzy and AC/DC), a true DIY aesthetic, and the powerful, melodic caterwaul of lead singer Tina Halladay. On their first full-length, Need to Feel Your Love, the band attempt to take the short bursts of their three EPs into long format, with somewhat mixed result.

Hitchhiker is the rare archival release that can appeal to both rabid superfans and casual listeners. Recorded over the course of a single night in 1976, it captures Neil Young in a stony mood-just a man and his guitar, a piano (and a few mind altering substances) live in the studio.

One quarter century into their musical lifespan, Boris was ready to hang it up. An obligatory classic album tour in which they performed their landmark Pink was enough to re-energize the trio, leading to an album which makes nods to their entire discography.

The differences between HAIM‘s debut record Days Are Gone—released four years ago—and Something to Tell You are subtle. The band’s sophomore album is driven by the same staccato vocal delivery and percussion and quick guitar riffs that electrified their debut. Underneath this, however, you can hear Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim beginning to stretch out and play with new sounds.

Rarely do album names manage to sum up a sound as aptly as Hug of Thunder does for Broken Social Scene. The Canadian collective can switch seamlessly between a rolling crash of noise and sparse intimacy, often within the same breath.

By now, the story of bizarro rock outcasts The Monks has become one of the most celebrated in all record nerd lore, because how could it not be?

After nearly a decade spent exploring post-noise American Primitive guitar moves on a dubiously functional acoustic with missing strings, Bill Orcutt finds its titular protagonist dragging electricity back into the mix.

Beware the B-sides and rarities album. Hardly an attempt to woo new fans, and commonly a ploy to keep devotees entertained between albums, B-sides and rarities albums may include some intriguing material but usually contain half-baked tracks that weren’t good enough to make it off the cutting room floor in the first place.

It must be awfully constricting for an artist to be one of the forefathers of a genre.