Click to listen to Gang of Four's "Who I Am" and "Never Pay For the Farm"

Gang of Four are grumpy old Marxists and proud of it. The anti-capitalist punk funk of their 1979 classic Entertainment! has influenced generations of bands (from Mission of Burma to Franz Ferdinand), but their outlook remains bitter. Their first album of new material in 16 years shoots scorn at a variety of atrocities — Internet narcissism, Gitmo, expense accounts, sex and lies — while setting Andy Gill and Jon King's vocal cross talk to viscose guitar scraping and rigid, bracing rhythms. Yet where Gang of Four's earlier work rode on a thrilling push-pull tension, Content either pummels your eardrums or just slogs along. It's anti-capitalist mainly because you won't enjoy owning it.

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“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.”