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AMERICANA ROUNDUP

Every big city has one: the band that should’ve made it, the act that, through whatever combination of bad luck, worse advice and blinding self-destructiveness, never quite broke out of its hometown. In Miami in the 1980s, that band was Charlie Pickett And The Eggs. Proficient in genres from cowpunk to Stones-y bar rock, Pickett made a record co-produced by the Velvet Underground’s Moe Tucker and suffered the usual malaise of low record sales and ruinous touring. Bar Band Americanus (Bloodshot) collects tracks from 1982-87, and the range of material is impressive, from the slide-guitar blues of “Penny Instead” to the overtly Keith Richards guitar riff that drives “On Horseback.”

While fate can be a cruel and unpredictable force as evidenced by Pickett’s travails, no one will ever accuse Matt Mays And El Torpedo of not taking their shot. The huge-sounding, hugely unexpected Terminal Romance (Sonic) is the Nova Scotia band’s play to become arena-rock titans. While Mays and Co. used to specialize in amiable folk rock, the balls-forward, serrated guitar rock of Terminal Romance has Mays shrieking like Ian Gillian on “The Hunter, The Hunted.” On jumpy Ramones salute “Rock Ranger Record,” Mays even gets the rising Joey Ramone inflection on the final syllable of “stereo” right: “Your boyfriend’s a dick/So we gotta go/Listen to some songs on the stereo.”

Following in the footsteps of Tift Merritt (whose recent Another Country emphasized an overly sweet, vocal-centric sound), Canadian bluegrass-turned-alt-country singer Angela Desveaux has tilted toward pop on The Mighty Ship (Thrill Jockey). While a few tunes rock, most of these songs feature Desveaux’s clear, uncommonly expressive voice conveying lyrics about tearing love apart and changes of heart. Whereas 2006 debut Wandering Eyes felt raw and unfinished, polished standouts abound here, including the sultry “Worried Mind” and the poppy “Sure Enough.” [Bloodshot, www.bloodshotrecords.com; Sonic, www.mattmays.com; Thrill Jockey, www.thrilljockey.com]

—Robert Baird

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