There is something for everyone in this week's set of top new pop albums.
1) Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Under the Covers, Vol. 1
This is an album of covers for people who love 60's pop music. Sweet and Hoffs (formerly of the Bangles) obviously feel very affectionate toward this music and see no necessity to move it outside of its original genre. The album is simply the sound of people who love pop music making pop music.
2) Mat Kearney - Nothing Left to Lose
Kearney kicked off his recording career in the Contemporary Christian music arena, but this album is his effort to move into the pop mainstream. If you like Jack Johnson and John Mayer, you should listen to this album by Mat Kearney.
4) NOFX - Wolves in Wolves' Clothing
NOFX have been around longer, 20 years +, than most current punk bands. This album kicks off the anticipation of their headlining role in the 2006 Warped Tour.
6) Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse
Rootsy rock doesn't get much better than the Drive-By Truckers, and they continue on a roll.
7) Richard Butler - Richard Butler
The first-ever solo album by the lead vocalist of Psychedelic Furs. Here Butler sounds revitalized well beyond the past several outings by the Furs.
8) Erasure - Union Street
Erasure takes a detour from their synth-heavy dance pop to acoustic versions of some of their classic album tracks and B-sides.
9) Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
Brother and sister Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, aka Fiery Furnaces, make some of the most idiosyncratic, but catchy, pop music in the business.
10) Daniel Johnston - Welcome to My World
This is an introduction to the far left-field music of Daniel Johnston, cited as a major influence on such major popular music luminaries as Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.
