CAVO
Bright Nights Dark Days
(Reprise)

It's a little difficult to sort out whether CAVO is a rock band or a pop band. The singing, though skilled, is breathy and smacks of contrived emotion. The dirty-toned guitars play with ascending octave runs like you might find in a Foo Fighters song (another band that seems stuck somewhere between rock and pop). The tunes are upbeat, rhythmically and melodically satisfying in places, and get a little better as the album goes on; "Blame" and "Beautiful" are decent rock songs. The one thing the effort suffers from, and which so many pop/rock bands seem to suffer from anymore, is the "Don't Stop Believin'" syndrome, wherein the approach to crafting every single friggin' song seems to be "write radio anthem." You really shouldn't attempt this unless your name is Sting, Prince, or someone else so talented that the world puts up with your one-word name.  —Tom Sturm

Lula Cortes
Rosa De Sange
(Time-Lag)

The gems of Brazil's Tropicalia movement have been mined over the past decade, but most people aren't aware of the fertile underground sounds that crystallized in its wake. The Pernambuco scene of the 1970s featured some of the most intriguing outer-limits psychedelia anywhere. Lula Cortes was the area's prime mover, mixing ethno-folk, jazzy improv, acid rock, and exotic drones into such mesmerizing recordings as Paebiru. Recorded in 1980, Rosa De Sange was his benediction to this period and an attempt to summarize its achievements. It confidently moves between psychedelic trance ragas, aggressive fuzz guitar workouts, Brazilian folk-rock and dance-floor grooves. The album has been rarer than hen's teeth even in its native country, so kudos to Time-Lag records for making it available in a handsome CD reissue and deluxe 180-gram limited edition vinyl. It offers a welcoming entry point into the scene's uncanny riches.  —Jeff Jackson

Amanda Shires
West Cross Timbers
(DIY)

Not since Johnny Cash killed a man in Reno has a line cut as cold as when Amanda Shires tells of her assault on a cheating lover with the quip, "I was aiming for his eyes because I could still see them there." That line from the murder ballad "I Kept Watch Like Doves" haunts long after the song is over and is indicative of the album on which it dwells. Co-produced with frequent collaborator Rod Picott, this solo album from one of the co-founders of Texas indie rockers The Thrift Store Cowboys treats the listener to sparse yet roomy arrangements that are as wistful as they are heartbreaking. With vocals that echo Dolly Parton and a prodigious skill on the fiddle that was first honed during her time with Tommy Allsup and his Texas Playboys, Shires crafts a country classic.  —Michael Cimaomo