Machineries of Joy

Brighton, England's British Sea Power has internalized music from all the great alt-rock bands of the past thirtysomething years into its own grand, elastic form. The band's fifth album, 2013's Machineries of Joy, again takes musical turns so varied that you wouldn't be blamed for thinking this must be a career retrospective of obscure outtakes. Horns make their presence known in the Teardrop Explodes–like psychedelia of "Monsters of Sunderland" and the sublime Go-Betweens-like literacy of "Radio Goddard." The tough guitar chugs associated with North Carolina's Merge Records establish a wall of sound for the title track. A gentler male-to-female vocal team-up for "Spring Has Sprung" even flirts with the twee Parisian pop of Camera Obscura while never losing its muscle. The twilight vibe of "A Light Above Descending" shows what power can still be unleashed without overstating the case. The similarly gazing "When a Warm Wind Blows Through the Grass" again builds textures that rub against each other for a delicate sense of friction.