Leading the slate of new albums out today: the return of rock’s poet laureate Bob Dylan with Together Through Life. Dylan, at the doorstep of age 68, has never sounded so “ravaged, pissed off and lusty,” David Fricke writes in his four-star review of the album. Together Through Life finds Dylan and his band — featuring accordionist David Hidalgo and songwriter Robert Hunter — sounding like they recorded the LP’s 10 tracks in a Mexican border town. “The album may lack the instant-classic aura of Love and Theft or Modern Times, but it is rich in striking moments, set in a willful rawness, and comes with a wicked finish,” Fricke writes.

Also out this week is the Crocodiles’ Summer of Hate. Inspired by the garage-pop fuzz of the Jesus & Mary Chain and borrowing their name from Echo & the Bunnymen’s landmark album, the San Diego band expand on their 2008 cult hit “Neon Jesus” with 34 more minutes of melodic art punk on their debut disc, which received a three-and-a-half star review.

Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers’ gorgeously odd Songs in the Night also earned three and a half stars, as Crain’s moody country rock chock full of dark themes is buoyed by jaunty sweet melodies courtesy of her strong backing band. Finally, we have Heaven and Hell’s The Devil You Know. The band, essentially Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio filling in for Ozzy Osbourne, grabbed three stars from RS because it practically silenced the group’s biggest weapons, Black Sabbath’s Tomy Iommi and Geezer Butler.