Mountain Goats leader John Darnielle has earned plenty of critical and popular acclaim for his literate lyrics and homages to American music of ages past. Now, as a trio, the Mountain Goats have returned with their 17th album in 18 years as a band, "The Life of the World to Come."

Total Babe creates a brand of sophisticated pop rock featuring bright vocals, peppy keyboard and graceful strings. Just babes themselves, this troupe of mostly high schoolers know how to write a pop song.

Owatonna, Minn. isn't nationally recognized for a lot of things, but it can be proud of its most famous native son - Sean Tillman, a.k.a. Har Mar Superstar. After stints in the noise band Calvin Krime and his own Sean Na Na project, Har Mar's exploration of R&B and raw sexuality has found him international fame.

Melding their specific combination of punk, garage rock, and even pop and soul, the Austin, TX trio known as White Denim formed about three and a half years ago when members of two bands, Parque Touch and Peach Train, met and decided to start playing together in 2005.

Nearly 30 years into their career together, the Johns of They Might Be Giants - Flansburgh and Linnell - have just released their 14th studio album, the entertaining and educational "Here Comes Science." Continuing in their recent vein of children's music, the album touches on plenty of scientific topics, like paleontology, astronomy and chemistry.