Gorillaz

“Plastic Beach”

8.9/10.0

Key Tracks: “Rhinestone Eyes,” “Superfast Jellyfish”

“Plastic Beach” — the long awaited to sequel to 2005’s “Demon Days” — is yet another piece of animated gold. But while its predecessors were much more straightforward pop albums, Gorillaz’s latest leans toward an experimental blend of neo-soul and radio-friendly grooves.

Instead of racing from single to single, “Plastic Beach” opts to interlace party-starters with orchestral stitches and melancholic melodies, bringing along a bevy of guests stars — including Mos Def, Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg and more — to steer the ship.

No song is half as catchy as “Feel Good Inc.” (or even “Clint Eastwood”), but there are many moments that are just as interesting or exciting.

Driven by pure pop instincts and taste for things exotic, the trip dips from sand cruising pulses (“Stylo,” “Superfast Jellyfish”) to a beachcombing looseness (“Some Kind of Nature,” “Sweepstakes”), all practically dripping with beads of cool.

Kinder, introspective moments like “Rhinestone Eyes” and “Empire Ants” shiver beneath the moonlight and truly steal the show: a testament to Damon Albarn’s gripping vocals.

There’s rarely a dull moment; either Albarn is ripping at your heart and ears with another lovely melody or a new guest spot brings a smile to your face. It’s a full product, and the gushing interludes tie the whole package together.

The end of the album melts away into just another sunset — pretty, if unremarkable — though this hardly mars yet another beautiful day at the beach.

Locksley

“Be In Love”

7.7/10.0

Key Tracks: “Darling It’s True,” “The Whip”

It’s been a brief two years since the release of Locksley’s debut album, “Don’t Make Me Wait.” But it has grown in leaps and bounds in no time.

While the debut showed a lot of promise, “Be In Love” fleshes it all out. There’s nothing overly innovative or unique here, just a load of damn catchy tunes.

Locksley favors a brand of vintage guitar pop that has rarely popped up so brightly since the seventies. It’s a wholesome, lighthearted sound full of “oohs,” “lahs” and “doo wops,” but with “Be In Love” the group has brought in an energetic flavor of rowdy garage rock for the new millennium.

Fans of Rooney, The Hives and local favorite The Pretty Black Chains will all find something to love here.

Locksley is just as radio friendly as raucous as it whips and hollers with “One More Minute” and “On Fire.” Then it does its best Buddy Holly impersonation in “Darling, It’s True” and “Away From Here.”

“The Whip” probably captures it all the best; it’s a sure-fire hit if people give it a chance.

And the band really never falters. There’s no misstep, never a dull moment.

If the band suffers from anything, it’s the aforementioned lack of innovation. A bit anonymous at times, “Be In Love” could use a signature touch that might just come with time.

And hell, if it only took Locksley two years to get this far along, it is probably already halfway there.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

“Beat The Devil’s Tattoo”

4.8/10.0

Key Tracks: “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo,” “Conscience Killer”

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is quite the enigma.

Most bands can’t claim half the talent BRMC has, nor even compare to the authentic rock ‘n’ roll edge these guys effortlessly sneer.

But if there has ever been a band who has wasted more talent, I couldn’t tell you who that would be.

It came on the forefront of the garage rock revival in the early ’00s but has long since been left underneath the wheels of The White Stripes and The Strokes.

Sadly enough, if you take two or three songs from each of BRMC’s five full-length albums you’ve probably got a masterpiece; instead we’ve got one good album (“B.R.M.C.”) and four mixed bags.

The latest effort follows suit. “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo” starts with a steady bang; the self-titled track and “Conscience Killer” seem to indicate a departure from the trend, and vintage groover “Bad Blood” is interesting enough. But then the slow fall into the big empty begins.

Nothing here is overtly offensive, just painfully boring.

The band does manage to snake its way into being somewhat entertaining in the later half and receives a much needed jolt from the thumping “Mama Taught Me Better” (though it may only feel electric in contrast to the slow dirges surrounding it).

But mostly it just drags along, and it tires easily.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will release one hell of a greatest hits collection, but if the band doesn’t step it up before then, it appears destined to be belting those hits out from a crusty, old biker bar instead of the stadiums it seemed to promise.

-Joshua Boydston/The Daily

Kidz in the Hall

“Land of Make Believe”

8.0/10.0

Key Tracks: “Fresh Academy,” “Out To Lunch”

Kidz in the Hall’s new addition to an already pretty respectable discography is probably one of the better hip-hop albums this year so far. No offense Luda and Weezy, but the Kidz are way more fresh.

The duo, consisting of producer Double-O and rapper Naledge, show their talent and love for the game on Land of Make Believe. They also receive contributions from a long list of artists, some better known than others.

The album’s supporting cast includes veteran rapper MC Lyte, singers Marsha Ambrosius, Colin Munroe, Tim William, Amanda Diva and Russoul, along with up-and-coming rappers Donnis, Chip Tha Ripper and The Kid Daytona. These artists as a collective make for quite a listening experience, highlighted by laid back instrumentals and fresh lyricism from Naledge and Co.

The songs are mostly about the lifestyle and experiences of the group, with lyrics that are far from revolutionary, but that doesn’t appear to be what they’re going for. For the Kidz it seems to be all about having fun, and the album fits that mission perfectly.

With tracks like “Out To Lunch” and “Fresh Academy,” you’ll be able to recognize the swagger of the Kidz. “Out to Lunch” features The Kid Daytona, while “Fresh Academy” includes Donnis and Chip Tha Ripper, and both tracks highlight the life the rappers lead, a life of freshness, as they would describe it.

While most of the album is geared toward having a good time, there are a few thought provoking, issue-driven songs like “Running” with Tim William and “Do It All Again”, a song in which Naledge speaks on his own personal problems.

The album probably isn’t the best bet for getting a party started, but it’s perfect if you just want to kick back and listen to some good hip-hop.

It probably won’t top the charts and certainly won’t get as many spins as the mainstream acts, but it is more than deserving of a listen.

So if you’re looking for some worthwhile hip-hop with some lyrical depth, add this album to your list.

-Ryan Querbach/The Daily

Drive-By Truckers

“The Big To-Do”

Rating: 8.1/10.0

Key tracks: “This F***ing Job,” “The Wig He Made Her Wear”

Southern rock sure sounds like a rollicking good time when “Gimme Three Steps” or “Flirtin’ with Disaster” pump from the neon jukebox in the corner of the bar. The soaring guitar solos and good-timey vibes are enough to relax listeners from worrying about their crystal meth-cooking cousins and the matrimonial homicide a few miles down the road from where they grew up, the things with which Drive-By Truckers singer and songwriter Patterson Hood is topically concerned.

Bare-faced and unflinching, the Drive-By Truckers are as southern as mud flaps and frank as a preacher’s funeral. A familial band—guitarist Jason Isbell and bassist Shonna Tucker were once married—from Georgia with a three-headed guitar attack is all one needs to dump the Truckers onto the rack with the Lynyrd Skynyrds, .38 Specials, and Marshall Tucker Bands of the world, though that would be a tragic understatement.

It’s unfair to typify their music as merely southern rock because the band’s albums are works of the southern gothic, setting to music the darkest stuff of Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Each song plays out like a short story, a sentiment Hood recently affirmed in an interview on the Irish music blog Swear I’m not Paul.

“I do love myths and legends,” he said. “Folklore, storytelling, etc. All of these things are a big part of what we do and things we apply to our music. It’s a grand old tradition that isn’t done as much nowadays as in days past. We are all very much into the idea of keeping that old tradition alive as best we can.”

“The Big To-Do” is an acceptable, shorter follow-up to 2008’s underrated and — dare I say — perfect “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”, a 19-track rock and roll masterpiece tackling questions of salvation, aggression and the illusion of normalcy, all integral to the southern identity. The two records exemplify the band’s songwriting dynamic. Hood shares singing and songwriting duties with guitarist Mike Cooley and bassist (and secret weapon) Shonna Tucker, whose voice lends beauty and surprise (“You Got Another”) in the unsettling wake left by Hood’s more straightforward songs. Cooley typically focuses closely on characters though his presence is diminished here; “The Big To-Do” suffers from a smaller ensemble. Aside from an apathetic hooker (“Birthday Boy”) and the deranged couple in Hood’s account of the murder of a preacher near his childhood home (“The Wig He Made Her Wear”), the storytelling seems tame in comparison to “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”.

Don’t worry motorcycle and corndog enthusiasts, Hood and company don’t dilute their traditional rock and roll fuzz with all this literary nonsense. “Daddy Learned to Fly,” “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” and “This F***ing Job” all deliver with mud-crunching guitar riffs and solos strong enough to revive Ronnie Van Zandt.

Anyone looking for hot singles in this album will be disappointed. The Drive-By Truckers are hardworking, blue-collar recordsmiths who play marathon-like concerts and leave the pop charts to younger musicians, though “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So” is about as close as they’ll ever come to country-pop, thanks to Tucker’s rich singing. Squeezed into the middle of an album loaded with southern identity and shy on filler, “The Big To-Do” ought to be remembered as the band’s “Houses of the Holy,” an excellent follow-up to an exemplary record.

-Matt Carney/The Daily