Listen Up: Spoon, Godsmack, The Wind + The Wave

Spoon, They Want My Soul
Rock
* * * stars out of four

On its first album in four years, this Texas group retains its singular sonic standard. Starting with a familiar nugget — a rhythmic pattern, a snatch of melody — then extrapolating from it in unanticipated ways, the music is crisp but never conventional. -- Brian Mansfield

Download:Do You, Rent I Pay, Outlier

Godsmack, 1000hp
Alt-Metal
* * *

Nearly 20 years after frontman Sully Erna formed the barnstorming Boston quartet, Godsmack has lost none of its pile-driving power. Its sixth studio album is a noisy hard rock manifesto that accommodates flashes of goth, funk and a cello. -- Edna Gundersen

Download: Something Different, Locked & Loaded, 1000hp

The Wind + The Wave, From the Wreckage
Roots/Pop
* * * 1/2

On their debut as a duo, singer Patricia Lynn and multi-instrumentalist Dwight Baker bring a haunted twang to beautifully crafted reflections on blighted yearning and challenged faith. Elysa Gardner

Download: It's a Longer Road To California Than I Thought, Every Other Sunday Morning