This U.K. group's 2004 debut was then-trendy blues punk, the kind of sound a band can mine every year or so until it splits up or gets some new influences. Weirdly, both of those things happened. It's taken a breakup and reunion for the 22-20s to record a follow-up, and now you can hear Sixties psych rock and Nineties Brit pop in their sound. They're best when their throwbacks clash; "Ocean" is the best Byrds tune Oasis never wrote, and on "Let It Go," singer Martin Trimble does a great stoned, ruffle-sleeved Bono.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.