Nine Inch Nails

“With Teeth” (Interscope)

Compare to: Coil, Marilyn Manson

Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the new Trent Reznor.

Six years after the release of “The Fragile,” Reznor and company are back with a brand new, feature-length album. Some elements get mixed up and others stay the same, but the band is definitely taking a step back from self-indulgence.

Instead of a “Fragile”-esque epic spanning two discs, “With Teeth” offers a simple mix of 13 songs that are all geared to stand by themselves. Songs like “The Hand that Feeds” and “Only” seem ready for radio play, which would not be startling to hear on other musicians’ albums.

But Reznor keeps things shaking. He switches from piano melodies to raw guitar riffs at the drop of a hat. It’s also pleasant to be able to understand the words he sings instead of being dazed and confused by uncontrolled instruments.

Nine Inch Nails has come a long way since 1989’s “Pretty Hate Machine,” which can be viewed as progress by some and destruction by others. Gone is the emphasis on hard industrial sounds that made the band a breakout hit. “With Teeth” flows well, but it can’t match “The Downward Spiral” for its overall effect of album format.

With the band’s refined sound and strict attention to creating single-serving songs, NIN has created its most accessible album in its catalog. Hopefully, the listeners that get hooked on “With Teeth” will look further down the spiral and find Reznor’s musical genius lying somewhere else.

— Keith DuCharme

Dynamite Club

“It’s deeper than most people actually think …” (Fun Hole)

Compare to: The Locust, Roue

Get ready for the strange, bizarre and eccentrically amazing.

In perhaps one of the strangest records since the last installment of Primus, Dynamite Club does away with any sort of musical constraint and puts its balls to the wall with an eclectic mix of almost all musical genres — from jazz trumpets to circus bells and whistles.

Combined with the lyrics, song titles like “Shit In the Air” and “Frozen Penis,” and the guttural screams of a barrel full of drunken frat guys, the album is strange enough to make any epileptic fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

It is hard to discern whether these men are so talented that their souffle of music is the work of a modern-day genius or if they decided to record the random antics of a bunch of crazy Swedes.

Dynamite never really sticks to a specific feel in its music, other than the unifying strand of wackiness, thus making it hard to understand if it’s actually good or if your mind is just in sensory overload. Some songs are methodical while others showcase a circus of death-defying bass riffs to the sweet screams of the front man’s tormented soul.

Dynamite’s album is obviously a persona-driven study of Primus’ wild ways, yet the band falters — it is so tangential that its music lacks a certain adhesiveness required of anyone not on meth to understand. Unless, of course, it’s deeper than we all think.

— Alex Switzer

New Order

“Waiting for the Sirens’ Call” (Warner Brothers)

Compare to: Joy Division, Depeche Mode, The Cure

So few artists have the ability to take their listeners to whole new planes of existence quite like New Order.

“Waiting for the Sirens’ Call” is pop music the way all pop music was meant to be created. The band’s delicate melodies, interwoven with smooth vocals, create a sweet blend of synth-orchestrated bliss that has the ability to guide its listeners through a maze of emotion — all while keeping its upbeat, new wave feel.

Most of the songs are brilliantly layered with different instrumentations that sound like one unified piece of music rather than sounds strung together.

The main ingredient in the mix is usually a synthesized beat, to which the band adds the almost-western twang of a guitar or a soft trace on orchestration. This helps bring the album’s tone to a very relaxing climax that matches the sweet sensation of a cool breeze blowing through your hair in front of a beautiful sunset.

Not all the tracks embody this cool, smile-inducing vibe, however.

To balance out the mix, New Order throws in a few tracks that rely almost entirely on synth and have a sort of adult techno feel to them — not fast enough to be considered a disco track and too electronic to be very pop-influenced.

Overall, “Waiting for the Sirens’ Call” is a masterfully crafted synth-pop record that has a little something for everyone.

— Dante Sacomani

Regina Spektor

“Soviet Kitsch” (Sire)

Compare to: Dresden Dolls, Kimya Dawson, PJ Harvey

Kitsch” means a display that is tawdry or vulgar — art in pretentious bad taste. Regina Spektor’s third album, “Soviet Kitsch,” is anything but this.

Spektor’s voice resembles a mix of Bjork, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, yet her musical stylings manage to stay unique enough to fit into no genre of music.

Originally from Russia and classically trained as a pianist, Spektor’s musical talent adds a lot to her voice. Her songs are quirky and original with surprising twists throughout. Songs sometimes break off and new choruses begin, giving the album a kooky feel.

Although Spektor is exploring a new way of creating music, her album feels disjointed. Songs like “Carbon Monoxide” and “The Flower” explore a darker side of Spektor’s emotions with intense piano accompaniment. “Your Honor” sounds like a punk song from an entirely different album.

The front cover of Soviet Kitsch showcases Spektor’s unique style. It features Spektor wearing a military hat and tight white tank top. Somehow it works to draw the audience in, just like Spektor’s voice and piano playing.

Although the album is enjoyable, Spektor frequently goes off on rants and repeats lyrics, making listening a bit monotonous at times. During the last track, “Somedays”, she trails off disconnectedly, ending the song and the album. The audience is left feeling discontented, wondering where the kitsch went.

— Ashley Garbin