Francis & The Lights – It’ll Be Better

MGMT and Drake tourmates release their first full length, following several hypeworthy EPs.  Led by the absurdly named Francis Farewell Starlite, their soulful sound has been compared to Prince and Peter Gabriel, but this is no rehash.

Francis & The Lights – “For Days”

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Department of Eagles – Archive 2003-2006

This set of early recordings from Grizzly Bear member Daniel Rossen and his NYU roommate Fred Nicolaus follows 2008′s acclaimed In Ear Park.

Department of Eagles – “While We’re Young”

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Mountain Man – Made The Harbor

These Vermont-based ladies break out the heartbreak and harmonies for their debut LP.

Mountain Man – “Soft Skin”

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The Books - The Way Out

This NYC duo releases their first album in five years, combining electronic and folk music with vintage self-help cassette samples.

The Books – “I Didn’t Know That”

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Japandroids -Younger Us single

The Canadian garage-rock duo are ditching the LP format in 2010, instead releasing five singles throughout the year.  “Younger Us” gets a physical release, though you should have already picked it up last month.

Japandroids – “Younger Us”

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Shannon Stephens – S/T

This debut album by former Sujfan bandmate Shannon Stephens gets a 10th anniversary repress.

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The Morning Benders’ debut LP, 2008′s Talking Through Tin Cans, was a nice collection of pop songs that suggested a sound somewhere between Brendan Benson and The Shins, but it sure didn’t hint at what the band was capable of.  Produced by singer/guitarist Chris Chu and Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear, their latest record, Big Echo, is a big step forward for the Berkeley foursome, in particular the stunning opener, “Excuses.”  A track as good as “Excuses” could carry an entire album, regardless of the quality of the remainder of the record, but luckily it doesn’t have to.  ”Promises” is up next and while a faster paced affair, it continues with the sunny harmonizing and twinkling keys while also adding some riffs on loan from the Veckatimest sessions.  Taylor’s brilliant production is evident throughout the album, but is especially thrilling on “Promises” and the toe-tapping “All Day Day Light.”  The latter track finds the Benders at their rock n’ roll peak and you can hear Chu fully relishing his role as frontman.  Anchoring the 10-track LP is the slow burning “Sleeping In,” which makes you believe the album is heading to a low-key trough before flipping the script with some riffs that would sound right at home on a Crazy Horse record.  The album is highly recommended and is out today on Rough Trade.  Buy the album at iTunes or Insound.  If you do anything at all today, make sure it includes watching the video for “Excuses” below.

Best described as a transitional album, Beach House’s 2008 effort, Devotion, makes good on the promise displayed in 2006′s Beach House, namely by way of the dreamy compositions and Victoria Legrand’s compelling voice, but most of all in cleaning up the rough edges that made their debut an interesting, if unpolished product. Hindsight is what it is, but the critical affection for Devotion now seems premature considering many of the qualities espoused are on display to even better effect on the current release, Teen Dream. That is, even tighter songcraft which instills palpable forward thrust in the album tracks instead of the oft-times meandering nature of Beach House and Devotion tracks, as well as even better production values. Below we’ve got the video for “Heart of Chambers,” directed by Victoria’s brother, Alistair.