Danny Watts is to acoustic strings what winter frost is to tree branches: an unexpected adornment, at odds with what you thought you knew, but too breathtaking to question. With "Angels In The Snow," the Downtown Patriots step into a snow globe of uncharted soundscapes, leaving behind the grungey scrape of amplifiers for something quieter, but no less expansive. It’s a curveball—a swerve from...

Well now, here’s The Flying Beets with their single "I See Through You," and it lands with the distinct thud of knowing something you almost wish you didn't. Singer/guitarist Nathan Waller, flanked by David Cross on bass and Steven Clements on drums, crafts an alt-rock sound here that feels less like soaring rebellion and more like pacing anxiously in a beautifully furnished, yet soundproof,...