It only takes about 30 seconds of listening to "Memos", The Hush Now’s third full-length album, to arrive at the realization the band has evolved a very long way in a very short time. The sugar-spun days of yore have given way, to a certain degree, and masterfully crafted, brilliantly executed lush music looks to be the band’s modus operandi going forward. The first time I heard the released version of the record, my initial reaction was they had nailed it. They had finally put it all together. This judgement was forged in steel the moment the first chorus of "Arkansas", the first track on the record, came around and at no point thereafter would it be proved false. It’s not that The Hush Now’s eponymous debut or sophomore effort "Constellations" sounded bad, far from it. It’s just there was always something missing for me. "Memos" boasts no such deficiency. Whether it’s the jelling of the band as a unit, the continued exponential growth of frontman and band founder Noel Kelly as a vocalist, the spreading out of songwriting duties amongst the group, the glistening production on the album supplied by Benny Grotto (Aerosmith) of Mad Oak Studios or the top-shelf mastering supplied by Jeff Lipton (Arcade Fire), it seems The Hush Now have finally found the recipe their body of work has been hinting at over the past few years, and the result is an unmitigated triumph. After the album’s opening track, the mood flits from the spacious, Sci-fi-tinged, optimism of "Clouds" to the more somber and contemplative tones of the album’s title track. From there, it’s on to the rollicking "Cameraphone" (featuring Kelly splitting vocal duties with lead guitarist Adam Quane) and "The Glow", an up-tempo track that’s just begging to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting dance floor. It’s exciting. One gets the definite sense the band had a good time making it, as well. "Memos," apart from being a brilliant record, is just plain fun.--Andrew Jeromski

Guillermo Sexo’s Secret Wild begins with the aptly titled, “Color The Noise”. The hollow-bodied guitar effects give the song a retro feel while their art noise approach gives it an entirely contemporary feel. Add slightly monotone vocals that split the difference between Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and the Velvet Underground’s Nico and you have a formula for success.“Skyline” cranks up the art-noise while dialing back the retro. “Secret Wild” pares everything back, stripping down to a near-acoustic delivery. Most of the tracks stretch out nicely, clocking in at four-plus minutes, allowing them to breathe and find their groove. A notable exception to the long-form tendency of Secret Wild is “Green Eyes”, clocking in at under two minutes, which finds the band experimenting with a quick burst of garage-punk. Secret Wild represents another leap forward and entertaining evolution in the sound that Guillermo Sexo has been refining for more than seven years now. --George Dow

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling are a concept band based on a 60’s British TV show, The Prisoner, (an episode of which frames, and shares its title, with each of their songs) and they have already produced one very excellent short film/music video. The six short tracks on their recent EP release, Questions Are a Burden to Others (the second installment of three planned EPs in the The Prisoner project) reveal that they have decided to stick with the sound of the first EP. Which, in the most concise assessment possible, is like mid-nineties PJ Harvey. Think a stripped down version of To Bring You My Love (and if you can't imagine that because you haven't heard that album, it is dark, dense, grinding, and guttural. And awesome.) Michael Epstein's bass effectively becomes a guitar when distorted heavily -- but when it's play-acting as guitar, of course, there's no low bass underneath to fill out the sound -- so the sound really is very bare-bones, for better or worse. In my opinion, the structures of the songs are so open that, if done judiciously, some additional sonic depth would not be a detriment to the "austerity" of the overall effect -- but then again, we're talking about a concept band here, not just your regular rock and roll outfit. So my critical ear may just be trying to make it something it's not. Perhaps the most striking feature of DNFMOMD is Sophia Cacciola's voice. Like Harvey's, it's extremely low, thick, and at once versatile range-wise: she hits her high notes, but in doing does not break out of the layered, treacly thickness that envelops each of her intonations. And the obvious pronouncement of Sophia's lovely voice in the mix, made possible by the spare instrumentation behind it, really lets her shine. It's the haunting vocals that really have me coming back for more, and makes me want to see them live. --Alexander Pinto

Kuuluuko is the duo of Stephen Salazar (guitar, vocals) and Cullen Corley (drums, keys, vocals). The cheap and easy way to describe them would be to invoke images of early White Stripes and Black Keys. And I suppose that there's a fair bit of both in the bluesy soulful racket that Kuuluuko make, but it's their influences that separate them from their more well-known peers. The heart of Kuuluuko pumps to the rhythms of Led Zeppelin, but they express themselves through the filter of more contemporary influences like Nirvana. Easy Things' opening tracks "Want It Need It" and "Your Back" bring the Rock like the one-two punch of "Black Dog" and "Rock And Roll" from Led Zeppelin IV. The wandering ballad "Door" brings the tempo down and shows a more delicate side of the band before building back up to a glorious racket in the last moments -- the perfect transition to the pummeling "Green Lion". With "Blue Queen" they explore their progressive influences with a loud-soft-loud, multi-part delivery that shows also their mid-nineties influences. Easy Things closes with "Sweet Pea" and "Hello", a pair of ballad-ish songs that brings things full-circle. What makes this EP so fun is Kuuluuko's inability to stay quiet. Even at their most tender they just can't help bringing the noise. What's fantastic about this tendency is that it's not incongruous -- it reflects the real world -- moments of tenderness interrupted by stabs of jarring reality. --George Dow