The Mountain Goats
The Life of the World to Come
(4AD)

The latest Mountain Goats album features Bible verses in place of song titles, but this isn't some simple profession of faith. While the songs are shot through with shards of biblical poetry, they're also populated with kidnappers, church vandals, break-in artists and terminal patients. Instead of spouting inspirational homilies, many of the characters are intent on redemption through violence. John Darnielle's lyrics are typically incisive, featuring subtly subversive narratives worthy of Steely Dan. Unfortunately, the music isn't always as well-wrought as the words. There's a new focus on piano-led tunes and fuller band arrangements that don't always suit the songs. Several pieces like "Genesis 3:23" lapse into bland, middle of the road slickness, replacing headlong urgency with relaxed chops and limp melodies. It's nice to see the Mountain Goats stretching out, but, like many of the songs' narrators, they seem caught between ecstatic revelation and something much more mundane. —Jeff Jackson

Eva and the Heartmaker
Let's Keep This Up Forever
(Sony)

Eva and the Heartmaker make straight-up, rock-solid pop. Vocalist Eva Weel Skram's sweet, lilting voice blends with electric guitar and some playful keyboard to create a poppy blend that might be just what you'd expect from a former finalist on Norway's version of American Idol. Still, Skram seems to have something besides the ability to write her own music. At times she digs into a deeper vocal register for barer, piano-backed songs like "A Potion of Lust." The lyrics take clich? to a whole new level, stretching painfully for rhyme to create gems like "into the beauty of the night/ where nothing's out of sight/ and all we do feels so right." Still, the musical background is varied and the talent strong enough that such forehead-slappers are worth overlooking. —Amy Littlefield

Elvis Costello
Live At The El Mocambo
(Hip-O/UMG)

This is a re-release of what was originally a famous bootleg (though this is the first time I've heard it). Obviously, any live recording of Elvis Costello and The Attractions in 1978 is a find, especially one recorded in a relatively small club in Canada, and if you're a Costello fan, you won't be disappointed. The band is dead-on, hyped-up and just gets better as they go along. The set list is classic, all from the first two albums (My Aim is True and This Year's Model), and the energy is palpable; listening to this live performance reminds me yet again of how similar this band (and this music) is to that of Costello contemporary and pop-rock hero Joe Jackson. As the show goes on, the band gets faster, more jammy and reggae/ska-infected. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I can't shake the feeling that this performance involved some kind of amphetamines. —Tom Sturm