A girl can do funny things to a boy: like make him write a love- wracked space-rock epic called "Vomit" that sounds like My Morning Jacket with a gun in their mouth. This San Francisco band's debut was scuffed-up and Stones-y; its new one adds a keyboardist and stretches out into something bleary and vaguely prog rock, as singer Christopher ­Owens obsesses for the one who tossed his heart in the trash. The lyrics are self-consciously ­gloppy, but from the Beach Boys pop of "Honey Bunny" to the textured, churning rocker "Alex" to the soul ballad "Love Like a River," Girls find the right sonic twist to give clichéd romantic self-pity a fresh, forlorn sting.

Listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost:

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“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.