On 2007's White Chalk, Polly Harvey made some of the quietest and most riveting music of her career. That record's coiled menace returns on this second set with longtime collaborator John Parish. Her latest also finds her at her most gleefully deranged. Parish provides music, while Harvey recites, sings and mangles the lyrics. "Pig Will Not," a howling Captain Beefheart—style blues, features her barking (more English terrier than pit bull). But she's most animalistic on the title track, cornering a "woman/man" with "chicken—liver balls" and echoing the strap—on threat from her classic "50Ft Queenie." She's still not a girl to take home to Mama.

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."