Though The Postelles have grown up a bit since their self-titled debut introduced us to the latest in refreshingly buoyant pop-rock tendencies, the riffs, sunny breakdowns and overwhelmingly innocent and infectious quality of their music has remained the same. Like The Kooks and The Strokes before them--hell, Albert Hammond, Jr. produced their first record--The Postelles exploit the value of a simple song structure and occasionally biting lyrics, perfectly catering the crux of their live show to the effervescent combination of the two set to major chords and harmonies that wouldn't feel out of place on the radio in 1962. The youthful sonic escape they provide is best devoured after it's been bottled up, packaged and delivered to us over the course of a sweaty 30-minute set in a basement somewhere or while you're driving with the windows down--ageless settings that take you out of their native New York and back to the haunts of yesteryear, where possibilities are endless and each song soundtracked a pivotal moment you weren't aware of just yet.

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Ana Kras

Devendra Banhart really, really wants you to dance.

With "Golden Girls," the lead-off track on Mala, which dropped on Nonesuch Records this week, he implores the listener to do just that: Banhart hypnotically chants "Get on the dance floor" as the flames from a steady burn of strings and crashing cymbals lick at your heels. The song may last a grand total of a minute and a half, but the message carries over the course of the album as Banhart's trademark eccentricity pops through flamenco guitar strains, synth deluges, sultry ballads and minimalist love songs that stun with their lyrical impact and instrumental simplicity. Surprisingly, Banhart doesn't think that Mala's repertoire, despite this rhythmic call to arms, will have people up out of their chairs when he starts to tour behind it.

See also: Devendra Banhart and R. Kelly, 'Maturing'

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There's always a question of whether or not icons can sustain their status and relevance as they age. Tied to histories that have cultivated their own mythology over time, we've been presented with comeback albums grasping onto some semblance of the youth they thrived in. In the chorus of the opening song off an album that came as a welcome shock to fans and loyal followers, David Bowie simply responds to the curious and the skeptical: "Here I am, not quite dying."

See also: Good Morning, Terrifying David Bowie Spider

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Android love, humans vs. computers, artificial intelligence, uploading the subconscious: If Ra Ra Riot was reading up on these hyper-specific topics while writing the songs for their next record, and if these themes worked their way into the fabric of their lyrics, does that make the resulting effort a concept album? According to bassist Mathieu Santos, no: science fiction novels and Ray Kurzweil's theoretical writings have been on the band's reading list since they were touring behind 2010's The Orchard, and the subject matter comes up pretty frequently in practice these days.

See Also:
-The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Week, 1/21/13
-This Weekend! tUnE-YaRdS, Ra Ra Riot, Hot Chip, "Donuts Are Forever," And So Much More

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"It's almost like waiting for your birthday when you're a little kid--'Oh my gosh, I can't wait for my party! I hope people come! I hope I get a ... train!'"

Laughing, Molly Hamilton eases into a foldable chair in the middle of her practice space in Bushwick. After taking a swig from a half-gone Sierra Nevada, she brings me up to speed: Widowspeak, her band, has been practicing like mad over the course of the past few weeks because they'd recently added a member, bringing their touring outfit to five players. They've been feverishly counting down to today as it marks the release of Almanac, their sophomore album out on Captured Tracks, as well the beginning of a brief run of East Coast dates that kicks off at the Mercury Lounge this evening. Older Widowspeak material has been on the agenda for the rehearsals leading up to the show, though the songs of Almanac are what Hamilton is, understandably, especially keen on unveiling. "We'll probably still play a good chunk of them in rotation ... but we're just getting so, so excited about people hearing the record!"

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Hey: Albums! In case people still care about these things, here's a batch of potentially interesting releases arriving in the calendar year.

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A. Banks

Hey: Albums! In case people still care about these things, here's a batch of potentially interesting releases arriving in the coming weeks and months:

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I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you, dear reader, are probably not in the Josh Groban demographic. I'm not exactly sure what the Josh Groban demographic is, but I'm almost certain it doesn't involve reading blogs, or knowing what they are. My guess is that Josh Groban fans stick to the Missing Child Prayer Alert/My Google Won't Download corners of the web. I'm not in his demographic either, but for some reason I find Josh Groban fascinating.

See Also:
- 30 Facts About Ke$ha Gleaned From Her New Book My Crazy Beautiful Life
- Charles Mingus' Secret Eggnog Recipe Will Knock You on Your Ass

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Soundgarden: Back When They Were Young Pups

For a band of impressive magnitude -- an unholy sum of Chris Cornell's wails, Kim Thayil's strangely tuned, beautifully heavy guitar, and the Zeppelin/Sabbath-indebted rhythm section of bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron -- Soundgarden's return from their decade plus absence has been kind of tentative. First some live shows, playing all the hits and dusting off a Badmotorfinger b-side, then a contribution to The Avengers. It took a year and a half of being into this reunion thing for Soundgarden to get blunt and definitive. We were introduced to their comeback album King Animal by way of "Been Away for Too Long," a song that awkwardly stampedes into a bland chorus repeatedly proclaiming they've, well, been away too long.

Soundgarden is both the '90s band you'd most want back and least want back, and kind of for the same reason. They left behind a pretty impeccable catalogue, and the prospect of these four guys making music together seems promising even if their genre has long since vanished.

Soundgarden perform tonight at Irving Plaza.

See Also:
- Q&A: Don Fleming On The Grunge Years, Courtney Love's Work Ethic, The Velvet Monkeys And Being Sonic Youth's "Manager"

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Last night, Lupe Fiasco took a break from attempting to set the record for uses of the word "bitch" on an MTV station to preview tracks from his upcoming album to a small bunch of journalist types. That album, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part One, is due out on September 25; SOTC was privy to a tantalizing preview of six tracks. Here's what we discerned from them. (And note: We did not grumble about the lack of an even rudimentary cheese plate.)

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