1.Lambchop - Damaged
This is a stately, considered album that merely presents itself to you. You have to come to it. Otherwise it just kind of floats there, pretty enough but not really engaging. But once you dig into the skin, or let it get it's teeth in, it's a finely observed masterwork. It's full of character studies that the band fully inhabit. It's got moments of absolute splendour (the horn breakdown in "Beers Before the Barbican") amongst sections that evoke abject fear without declaring specifics (unsurprisingly, the song "Fear"). Kurt Wagner's thick delivery struggles against the backing music, but it's an effective and emotive instrument despite its small range and unclear diction.

The album also ends on an awesomely cantankerous rant against the indie-rock coolocracy. It doesn't fit the rest of the album, but it is nice to revel in a good tirade once in a while.