"Dylan dropped acid in the limelight," sings Tex-Mex singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo on "Headstrong Crazy Fools," savoring the recklessness of youth with a James Jamerson bass line and a Lou Reed rhyme scheme. Escovedo nods to his forebears here, as on 2008's Real Animal. "Bottom of the World" and "San Antonio Rain" echo "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," young Dylan's means applied to different ends: those of a 61-year-old rock & roll lifer staring down hard-luck cases with unsparing empathy. If the songs don't always transcend their references, they rarely feel less than lived.

Listen to 'Big Station':

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• Video: Alejandro Escovedo's "Man of the World (Live)"

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”