Pop

The TV series Glee, about a crazy-quilt high school vocal group, is absolutely irresistible. The music alone? Slightly less so. The songs, stripped of their visual component, sound less ingenious, and in some cases, pro forma. When you can't see an overachieving Finn (Cory Monteith) belting out "Can't Fight This Feeling," what you're left with is a karaoke cover of REO Speedwagon. Ouch! And the less said about a skiffle tapdance through Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself," the better. Some tracks still sparkle, like the soaring duet of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " from the Glee pilot, an achy-breaky rendition of Rihanna's ballad "Take a Bow" and a spit-shined version of Queen's "Somebody to Love."

Overall, the music comes across a little schmaltzier than it does on TV. But as always, the kids get an "A" for school spirit.

- David Hiltbrand

Weezer
Raditude
(Geffen ***)

Last year's The Red Album found Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo struggling to fight the onset of a midlife crisis. This time around, he's embracing it. The adolescent thoughts that pervade teen pop anthems like "The Girl Got Hot," "I'm Your Daddy" and "In the Mall" aren't what one would expect from a family man on the brink of his 40s. Combine that with the long list of all-star collaborators he's corralled into helping him forget his age, including Top 40 favorites like Lil Wayne and the All-American Rejects - and the aptly titled Raditude presents an image of Cuomo sharply contradicted by any of his band's six previous albums. But if you can suspend disbelief long enough to ignore that this is all coming from a Subaru-driving dad with an expanding bald spot, this is one of the funnest, catchiest parties this side of high school.

- Jakob Dorof

El Perro Del Mar
Love Is Not Pop
(The Control Group ***1/2)

The plethora of internationally successful Swedish pop music acts over the years may tempt one to perceive a signature sound, a discernible influence - a result of mood, place, etc. But c'mon: Can anyone really spot the ABBA influence on Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door, their 1979 swan song LP recorded at the Swedish hitmakers' Polar Studios in Stockholm?

For many, Stockholm's now (indie) pop sound is Peter Bjorn and John - more rock than their 2007 breakthrough hit "Young Folks" might imply. And then there is PB&J's current tourmate, Sarah Assbring, a.k.a. El Perro Del Mar (her moniker inspired by a Spanish beach canine encounter). You might think she's a "Gothenburg Calling" alternative, hailing from Sweden's second city, a big college town and music hotbed. But her beautifully brooding, deceptively lively indie pop is gorgeously borderless.

Her third album is a slight departure, more beat-pushed (even including clubby remixes), developed with studio whiz Rasmus Hagg. It's also darker, if sparkling in its meditations on lost love, with EPDM's measured, ethereal and unmistakable voice conveying the sadness of a "Change of Heart" or moving on to "A Better Love." And her sublime take on "Heavenly Arms" must be the Lou Reed cover of the year, a track off his own pivotal album, 1982's The Blue Mask.

- David R. Stampone

James Maddock
Sunrise on Avenue C
(Ascend Records ***1/2)

It's been almost a decade since James Maddock's band Wood put out Songs From Stamford Hill and appeared headed for stardom. Now the New York-based British singer and songwriter is finally back. And while he may have endured a rough personal and professional stretch to get here, the music proves to be, as the cliche goes, worth the wait.

Sunrise on Avenue C's impeccably crafted pop - down-to-earth yet elegant with its occasional use of strings - is full of strong melodies and subtle dynamics; the title track, for one, a vividly sketched slice of urban romanticism, comes with a trombone solo in the coda that reinforces the sense of aching longing. That's the way it goes throughout, with the music as emotionally resonant as Maddock's songs, from the quiet intimacy of "Stars Align" to the rock-edged urgency of "Hollow Love."

This is adult music with nothing "Dumbed Down" - to borrow the title of Maddock's humorous poke at TV (and himself) - but my 14-year-old daughter also likes it. That's a neat trick.

- Nick Cristiano

Country/Roots

Yes, there's a new Tim McGraw album out there. But, you know, life's too short, and besides, the label above does say "country." So we'll stick with the real thing, and James Hand is certainly that.