If “beach goth” is already a musical genre taken by neo-surf rockers, then Lana Del Rey’s new album Honeymoon has given birth to “tropical noir;” all the imagery of swaying palm trees and hallucinatory California sunsets with the heightened drama and mystery of an old Hollywood film score.

There are few more exhilarating experiences in music than Animal Collective live and in full flight. But anyone who’s seen the Baltimore ensemble at their most disorientating will know their aural mastery is never a given. Fortunately Live at 9:30—a renowned Washington, DC venue—sits at the more pleasurable end of the spectrum, despite being recorded after the release of the impenetrable psych muddle that was Centipede Hz.

Daniel Zott and Josh Epstein of JR JR (formerly known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.) are a uniquely in-sync duo with killer skills for making inventive, unexpectedly great indie pop; albums like 2013’s The Speed of Things had Beach Boys-esque levels of ambition and a handful of catchy hits.

It’s fitting that Silversun Pickups dropped an epic video by filmmaker Mark Pellington to accompany the lead single “Nightlight” from their new album, Better Nature. L.A.‘s favorite alt-rockers have exhibited an appetite for the cinematic since their debut Pikul dropped a decade ago.

If there is anything we’ve learned about Alison Mosshart over the last decade, it is that she is a damn undeniable star, no matter what setting she’s put in. Whether she’s dueling with Kills partner Jamie Hince or collaborating with svengali Jack White, she exudes the sort of louche, effortless cool that you expect from rock stars, without ever coming across as apathetic. It’s refreshing then that with The Dead Weather, Jack White (the notorious busiest man in rock) is capable of letting Mosshart truly take the reins.

Smoke Ring for My Halo remains a lasting statement of purpose and Wakin on a Pretty Daze was a massively generous comfort blanket of an album, but with b’lieve i’m goin down…, Kurt Vile finally has gotten down to the essence of what he’s been searching for since the beginning.

So after the fights, the recriminations, and the bitter bile subside, a brand new New Order album surfaces. From the outside looking in, there’s a touch of Pink Floyd circa 1987 about Music Complete‘s genesis, with a bitter estranged founding bassist and key member complaining about the right for the band to exist, while the other members attempt to replicate the extraordinary success of previous records.

As good as CHVRCHES’ debut album The Bones of What You Believe was (and it was very good indeed), the whole record did often seem to be running to catch up with arguably the finest opening track on a debut album this decade in “The Mother We Share.”

Much was made of Youth Lagoon‘s sheltered psychedelia almost immediately. Fat Possum’s quick trigger finger led to the release of Trevor Powers’ official debut, The Year of Hibernation, and the album landed on most Best Albums lists by year’s end.