Crib Notes

Box Elders’ debut Alice and Friends opens with “Jackie Wood,” a dirty pop anthem that lays all the cards on the table. Yes, they’re from Omaha, Neb., but the group’s stylish warble is imbued with such a gut-wrenching balance of giddy and unpretentious rock, haphazardly delivered, that each song teeters on collapse. The noisy concoctions of surf and ’60s pop inflections in “Stay,” “Necro” and “Talk Amongst Yourself” will inevitably draw comparisons to the Black Lips, but beyond the murk and garage riffs, ramped-up pop energy drives the record through to the end. “One Foot in Front of the Other” and “2012” are dark and aggressive, while “Death of Me” is a legitimately timeless nugget amid this grand unveiling of the group’s beautiful, jagged sound. (Goner Records) 4 stars out of 5

“Stay” mp3

Box Elders and Sonic Chicken $7. 10 p.m. Sat., Sept. 19. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atl.com.

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Simon Joyner has reached an apex with Out into the Snow. Or maybe he reached it in ‘06 with Skeleton Blues. Or perhaps it was with 2004’s Lost with the Lights On…. . The point is Out Into the Snow is another link in a chain of crystalline, post-Dylan perfection. Flawed characters wandering aimlessly throughout a bucolic Midwestern backdrop fill Joyner’s songs. “The Arsonist” and “Ambulances” are intimate looks into these lives that glow with memories. “Last Evening on Earth” is a dark and drunken dirge, and “Sunday Morning Song for Sara” is recorded with such stark clarity it captures every nuance of every quivering breath and every stroke of guitar. These details add rich depth to the album’s lush arrangements of horns, strings and Joyner’s imperfect wailing, creating one more chapter in a beautifully resigned body of song. (Team Love) 4 out of 5 stars

“Roll On” mp3

“Out into the Snow” mp3

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By Michael Gerber

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band played a good but not amazing show at the Variety Playhouse Friday night. Good, because it convinced me to buy the new four-song tour LP they were selling in the lobby. Not amazing because out of the songs they played that I was familiar with, I preferred the recorded versions. Not because the live versions were so bad, but because the live setting didn’t add much to the Conor Oberst experience.

No longer billed as Bright Eyes, Oberst is enlisting the Mystic Valley Band to make music that’s a little less ambitious and not quite as unique. This made for a tight singalong album that played to their strengths as folk rockers with pop sensibilities. Oberst is still the quivering balladeer and the more traditional surroundings are a good match now that he’s maturing well into his 20s. He’s not the boy genius heir to Dylan (groan) that kind of looks like a girl anymore. Now he’s got three guitars in his band, maybe unnecessary for his style of music, but it adds muscle to the sound. That, along with his side burns, declare his status as a grown man playing grown man music, even when he’s at his most fragile.

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