The crowds at the Nineties reunion party keep growing. (Hey, Sponge, we’re saving you a chair next to Seven Mary Three!) But who expected Bush to show up in such buff shape? These guys were always underrated - and their name was one of history’s worst bad-timing moves. But the quartet’s first record in a decade is a surprisingly vital viva-la-grunge manifesto. Gavin Rossdale sounds about a thousand times perkier than he did on his 2008 Auto-Tune quagmire, Wanderlust, growling chest-beaters like “All My Life” as if he’s got something to prove. And judging by “She’s a Stallion,” Gwen Stefani should be proud.

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On “Death of Communication”, the lead single from Company of Thieves’ sophomore effort, Running From a Gamble, vocalist Genevieve Schatz proclaims that “Everything we’ll ever need is deep inside of our limitless beings / We struggle and we fight ‘cause it feels good to wonder why our lives are happening”. Although cluttered and a bit too frank to translate well into a rock song, these lyrics do seem to sum up the ideas permeating throughout the album. Schatz has said that the album is “a coming of age adventure about the mysterious, passionate, and painful transition from dependence and enchantment to autonomy and awareness.” It goes without saying that this is no small task to pull off, especially for a fairly new band that still hasn’t exactly nailed down its own sound.

Two years ago, Company of Thieves were riding high on their brilliantly orchestrated single “Oscar Wilde” from their debut album Ordinary Riches. The success of that song set into motion a whirlwind of TV appearances and slots on high-profile indie rock tours that enabled the band to grow and become one of the more compelling live performances around. There’s no denying that Schatz’s vocal abilities along with guitarist Marc Walloch’s axe skills are a promising combination, but one great song and one pretty darn good debut do not make a career. Thus comes the inevitable pressure of following up such promise with an even better sophomore effort. Running From a Gamble isn’t a bad album; it’s just not as good as it could have been.

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“Sell yourself, don’t be a fool!” gurgles Matt Shultz, the wiggly frontman for Cage the Elephant, midway through the young Kentucky-bred band’s second album. He’s yelling at the hipsters and fakes whose convolutions confuse and upset him, but he’s surely also offering himself a warning.

Having gained notoriety a couple of years back for intense live shows and memorable singles like 2008’s slouchy, sexy “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” Shultz and his pals, including brother Brad on guitar and secret weapon Daniel Tichenor on bass, stand at a crucial juncture. Can Cage the Elephant survive the scrutiny of jaded aficionados who call its drum kit-toppling yet sweet-toothed approach to guitar bashery nothing but a rehash of flannel rock? This set of ripping rave-ups and effortlessly tasty singalongs answers YES, in all caps.

The band’s influences are obvious. Songs like “Aberdeen,” a nod to Kurt Cobain’s hometown, and the shameless Pixies rewrite “Around My Head” trash and lovingly refashion those sources the way kids take apart their toys during the winter holidays. It helps that these pilferers have great taste. They run like rabbits from the stultifying bottom end of grunge, instead honoring what was hot and sweet about ‘90s rock: the raucousness of its hooks and the accessibility of its noise.

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In the run-up to Kings of Leon’s fifth album, frontman Caleb Followill fretted publicly over his band’s swelling popularity. Sorry, dude: That horse left the barn a while ago. The Kings’ last album, 2008’s Only by the Night, sold 6.5 million copies worldwide, they now headline arenas all over, and the Grammy-grabbing “Use Somebody” has been covered by everyone from Paramore to Trey Songz. If Wilco and My Morning Jacket are vying for the title of America’s Radiohead, Kings of Leon have — Bono’s honorary green card notwithstanding — become our U2. And the gigantic-sounding Come Around Sundown suggests that, Caleb’s humble grumblings aside, they are thriving on it.

Listen to “The Face,” a slow-fuse power ballad that conjures a stadium full of singing fans and slow-turning mirror balls. Or “The End,” where the band’s once lean and scrappy guitar sound becomes an Edge-like tsunami. But the Kings’ personality hasn’t been lost in the supersizing — the group manages to tweak its sound several times over.

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Sound: The latest Death Angel album with a re-vamped line up, a new bassist and drummer Damien Sissom and Will Carrol respectively, is a bit of a mixed bag. Death Angel have put out some solid albums in the past and in my opinion 2008s’ Killing Season was one of their strongest efforts to date. Relentless Retribution is of the same formula but lacks the same urgency and power that Killing Season had, and I put that down to lack luster Drum work and at times average riffing. But saying that Relentless Retribution does have it’s charms, the acoustic outro to Claws In So Deep is a stunning piece of guitar work from Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriella. And the little bits of flare from bassist Damien Sissom and a stellar vocal performance from Mark Osegueda are saving graces here.

Lyrics and Singing: Political themes are abundant here. Aggressive lyrics couple with the harsh vocals of Mark Osegueda give this album an edge which is effective in conveying their feelings of betrayal and anger at higher powers who have taken advantage of their positions. Occasionally Rob Cavestany jumps up and tries his hand at lead vocals too and while its a good effort and the songs where he sings are good, and his performance is better than I would have expected, I fell his style just doesn’t suit except on Volcanic which is a great track but kills the flow completely and just doesn’t seem to fit in the album. The vocals sometimes can seem a bit far back in the mix though and this album definitely needed them to be further out to give it more bite. The vocals here are my favorite part of this album, they redeem it in my eyes.

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