Mojo Nixon
Whiskey Rebellion
(Mojo Nixon)

Psychobilly and roots rocker Mojo Nixon came out of musical retirement this fall with Whiskey Rebellion, a collection of outtakes, experiments, soundtrack songs and sports anthems. As he explained in a press release, "While rooting around under the front porch I found an old shoe box full of cassette tapes strays—lost dogs—homeless songs in need of a title…" The grab-bag approach is predictably all over the place, but wherever Mojo takes us is a lot of fun (or at least curious, like a side-show attraction). "What's Up Judge Judy's Ass" and "Dr. Laura Who Made You God" offer up pointed media criticism with choruses that are a joy to join, and "I Don't Want No 'Sparagus" provides such culinary observations as how a bucket of pus would be preferable to the lyricist than eating the title vegetable. Favorites include his primitive instrumental, "Christians I Hate 'Em," and an equally basic but enjoyably guttural "Prisoner of the Tiki Room."   —Mark Roessler

Connie Archer
Spray Me Down
(Flipped Out)

Connie Archer, primarily a New York City visual artist who's putting out music under this stage name, is an interesting creature. Her songs find themselves somewhere between an endearing, lo-fi Kimya Dawson innocent sound and aspirations to Beck-like melodies and production values. There are no credits on the disc, so it's hard to know if she plays everything on the record or if there are several others involved in the mix; in any case, there are lots of odd little piano/pump organ/chime sounds that keep the overall feel weirdly European. The vocals are a little amateurish and off-pitch and deliver lyrics that sound as if they were written first and force-fit into the melodies, but they're strange enough to keep it interesting. For some odd reason, I feel like I'd love the whole lyrical overlay 10 times better if it were in French.  —Tom Sturm

The Red Krayola with Art & Language
Five American Portraits
(Drag City)

Five American Portraits is one of the odder submissions to have arrived in quite some time. It's terribly entertaining. Five Americans have been crudely drawn in abstracted partial portraits on notebook paper, and flat-footed descriptions of those portraits are sung very poorly or strangely over squiggly, jangly music. The music is sufficiently intriguing in its unexpected and well-crafted ambience to keep the thing afloat, but the lyrics seem to be a joke that goes on for 43 minutes after its cleverness has evaporated. A representative sample from "President George W. Bush": "A crease in the forehead/ To the right/ Ridges across the forehead/ Part of the left eyebrow," and so on and on (and on), broken only by occasional background choruses of familiar tunes. The album may be an attempt to see how far these hipsters can push listeners before they'll cry "uncle," but their odd and sophisticated playing is so listenable, their lyrics so mantra-like that you can—at times— get past annoyance to enjoyment. —James Heflin