With a name that means king forever, it’s only fitting that Omarion’s most notorious tattoo is an O adorned with a crown, his symbol...

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As you can tell by the title, the latest effort from experimental indie rock act Xiu Xiu isn’t going be 2010’s most uplifting album, but it may be one of the most sonically satisfying. Produced by Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, Dear God, I Hate Myself sees Xiu Xiu mastermind Jamie Stewart fully realizing his band’s sound on the swirling, orchestral opener “Gray Death” and skewed, symphonic “The Fabrizio Palumbo Retaliation.” Oh, and if that weren’t impressive enough, the haunting, Morrissey-esque title track is just one of four songs that was composed primarily on a Nintendo DS, proving that if you’re driven enough, then 64 bits is all you need to craft the soundtrack to your own personal catharsis.

When you’re named after a Shakespeare play and you have a song that’s named after a Civil War–era naval battle (“The Battle Of Hampton Roads”), chances are someone in your band went to grad school. However, instead of being plodding and pretentious, Titus Andronicus’s second album sounds like a collaboration between The Hold Steady and Conor Oberst. What separates them from other acts currently fogging up Pitchfork editors’ bifocals is that these guys can actually play. The band pull off everything from twangy barroom sing-alongs, such as “Theme From ‘Cheers,’” to fist-pumping ragers like “A More Perfect Union,” and show that an ounce of energy outweighs a lifetime of irony.

The Doggfather on his 10th album, his first tattoo, and his plans to become the next Oprah.

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On This Addiction, Alkaline Trio strip their dark and stormy rock down to its punk roots—blood, spit, tattoos, and all.

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Past Lives may feature three members of the defunct act the Blood Brothers, but if you’re expecting fractured post-screamo you’re in for a surprise. On the band’s debut full-length, Tapestry of Webs, the four-piece transpose their sound into a more pop context without forsaking their avant-garde edge. The result is an album that’s teeming with ambitious, guitar-driven songs—such as “Past Lives”—that are as eerie as they are enchanting. While Tapestry lacks the aggression of Past Lives’ previous act, songs like the droning “K Hole” sound like a logical progression for these musical misfits. If the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a little too safe for you, Past Lives could be your new favorite act.

Ted Leo may be the hardest-working man in punk. Although his sixth full-length with the Pharmacists may not have any songs as infectious as “Me and Mia,” from his incendiary 2004 effort Shake the Sheets, it is probably his most consistent effort to date. While the album is teeming with plenty of politically motivated rock songs, The Brutalist Bricks also has sonic surprises, such as the half-time acoustic breakdown on “Bottled in Cork” and the dissonant introduction to the Elvis Costello–worthy anthem “Gimme the Wire.” “We all got a job to do, we’re gonna do it together,” Leo sings over a bed of pounding piano and tribal drums on “Woke Up Near Chelsea.” Leo’s doing his part—what about you?

Scotland is known for a lot of things, like its whiskey and … some other stuff we can’t recall. We do know that the country’s second most satisfying export is the indie rock act Frightened Rabbit, whose third album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, proves they can transcend their own hype. From expertly crafted ballad “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” to the spacey “Foot Shooter,” the band incorporates more expansive arrangements into their already seasoned songwriting, and the ambient instrumentation on songs like “Skip the Youth” take the band’s sound to the next level. Although we’re guessing that, like a good whiskey, The Winter of Mixed Drinks is going to age well, we suggest filling up now.