Titus Andronicus is a garage-punk band from New Jersey, but that description does not begin to accurately describe what they do. Their brand of punk rock manages to simultaneously be raw and lush and their songs are written to be both blistering and intelligent. Sonically, their closest contemporaries are probably Japandroids - but Titus is so much more fleshed out. Their influences seem to me equal parts Springsteen and Replacements. Their amazing 2010 album The Monitor involved a loose Civil War concept woven between found audio and saloon-drinking anthems. Here's some commentary from Stereogum on their latest, Local Business, due out Tuesday.

The big problem with Local Business, Titus’s third album, isn’t the album’s fault, and it’s not really anything to do with the album itself. The problem is The Monitor, Titus’s 2010 sophomore LP and probably my favorite rock record of the last five years or so. There’s just no following The Monitor. It’s not possible....

So here's the good news: Local Business is an extremely accomplished rock album from a band who knows what it’s doing. It has its own overarching themes (loneliness and isolation, mostly), but it’s not a sweeping concept album the way The Monitor was. And once you get over the fact that it’s not The Monitor, there’s a weird joy-relief hybrid in realizing that Titus is built to last; that they can simply knock out a smart and impactful rock record without attempting to rewrite the rule-book every time out.

Click here to stream Local Business from Titus Andronicus courtesy of NPR.

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead pissed me off upon hearing about them for the first time. I thought a name that awesome belonged to a brutal metal band. But they won me over with loud, but thoughtful indie rock; specifically how they lampooned the rock scene on their 2004 album Worlds Apart. Their previous effort, Source Tags & Codes (2002), is generally regarded as their peak. The Austin group is known for incendiary, unpredictable live performances - leaders Conrad Keely and Jason Reece nearly fought each other at a St. Peterburg, FL show in 2006. Their new album Lost Songs - also out Tuesday - seems to be a return to form.

Spin hosts the album stream, and here's what they have to say.

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's eighth studio album Lost Songs is dedicated to Pussy Riot [The punk rock group jailed for protesting religion and the government in Russia] and inspired by "the apathy to real world events that has plagued the independent music scene now for over a decade," according to singer/multi-instrumentalist Conrad Keely. If their beautiful cacophony arises a renewed sense of purpose in you today, then we have done our jobs well: SPIN is pleased to premiere the full album, which is due October 22 via standard, deluxe, and vinyl editions. Get lost in the spiraling riffage midway through "Catatonic," soak in the classically melodic Trail vocal line of powerhouse opener "Open Doors Standard," and resist the temptation to smash things to the pummeling "Opera Obscura" now!