ELEFANT The Black Magic Show

While Morrissey keeps trying to evolve musically, the original ringleader of sensitive singing over synthetic beats is being constantly tormented by new wave’s new class. With the release of its sophomore album, The Black Magic Show, Elefant should be added to the list of Smiths-influenced, Joy Division-worshipping New York City hipsters.

Lead singer Diego Garcia loosens his tie, jumps into a DeLorean and takes listeners on a journey back to 1985. On “Black Magic Show (Introducing)” the album’s appropriately titled lead track, Garcia seemingly shouts out fellow throw-back faves Interpol (“blinded by the bright lights”) over a chorus of jangled guitars and synthesizers. Garcia’s soothing narrative style, which is built over basic somber lyrics and upbeat chords, works well on “Sirens” and the album’s stellar coda “Don’t Wait,” but falls flat on other selections. Many of Garcia’s lyrics are filled with rhyming couplets that sound stale, lack substance (“It’s just a way/ A way that we play” from “The Clown”) and seem like they could have been written for Sharon, Lois ‘ Bram’s children’s show.

Songs such as “It’s A Shame” would be primed to take over the airways if Garcia could lose the Ross Geller-like over-pronunciations (for-gih-ive me) and embrace substance over style. Grade: C+

— Erin Scott, Muse Staff

MAT KEARNEY Nothing Left to Lose

The track listing for Mat Kearney’s sophomore album Nothing Left to Lose informs the listener that nothing new or original will be heard. Titles like “All I Need” and “Won’t Back Down” are bland and uninspired, and this mundane façade paves way for the actual sound. Kearney, a singer/songwriter from Eugene, Ore., attempts to sing like Chris Martin from Coldplay — falsetto included — but with minimal guitar and piano textures to support him, his voice comes off as thin and pale.

However, on tracks such as “Undeniable,” “Bullet” and “Girl America,” rapping disperses the vocal melody. Although the rapping itself is always spoken in the same rhythm, lyrically, it proves to be the most original aspect of the album. Aside from that, the listener is handed clunky couplets, such as “This is my Renaissance/This is my one response” from “Renaissance.”

A reader may not want to judge a book by its cover, but a listener should check the track listing of an album before pressing play. Grade: C-

— Irene Test, Muse Staff