The Verve, 'Forth' (On Your Own/Megaforce)

If the drugs don't work, why are we still high?

"There's no need for introductions," Richard Ashcroft announces in "Rather Be," a song from the Verve's first album in more than a decade. And that much is true: though the U.K.

Juliana Hatfield, 'How to Walk Away' (Ye Olde)

Alt-rock homecoming queen (finally) grows old gracefully.

"Don't take me for a woman," sings Hatfield in "This Lonely Love," from her ninth solo album.

The Dandy Warhols, '...Earth to the Dandy Warhols' (Beat the World)

Major-label refugees stick it to the Man (and their fans).

With Earth to the Dandy Warhols, the self-released follow-up to 2005's overblown Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (poor sales of which earned them the boot from Capitol), these Portland psych-rock vets have fully exhausted their 15 minutes of mainstream renown.

Jay Reatard, 'Singles 2006–2007' (In the Red)

Ragingly tuneful obscurities from buzzy young Tennessee scamp.

This insanely prolific Memphis garage punk recently signed to Matador, which is in the midst of a plan to release a half-dozen new seven-inches before the end of the year. Singles 2006–2007 collects 17 earlier, scruffy sides recorded for a bunch of smaller indies like Goner and Squoodge.

Tilly and the Wall, '0' (Team Love)

Bright-eyed Bright Eyes protégés still dancing as fast as they can.

When this Omaha outfit appeared in 2004 with a tap dancer where a drummer is supposed to be, only the band members (or Conor Oberst, who releases their albums) would've bet that Tilly and the Wall would still be around four years later. Yet here they are on their third full-length, and rather than calcify into indie-scene shtick, Tilly's music has gotten funnier and more vibrant.

Nine Inch Nails, 'The Slip' (The Null Corporation)

In pop music's future, there will be no such thing as days off.

"Once I start, I cannot stop myself," Trent Reznor sings in "Discipline," the most conventional tune on the unconventionally released The Slip, which hit the Internet in May with a price tag even a Radiohead fan could love. ("Thank you for your continued and loyal support," the Nine Inch Nails mastermind wrote on his site.

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