Moby Tenenbaum's Mid-Year Album Picks

"•    “Floating Coffin,” by Thee Oh Sees. No band pulls together psychedelia, noise, garage, and punk into one neat ball—and has so much fun doing it.
•    “Heza,” by Generationals. The third album by two guys from New Orleans and their friends. Shimmering, catchy, mostly upbeat tunes that draw from a variety of sources—Britpop and Motown among them—and are filtered through a contemporary indie-rock lens. (I also saw them perform live in a small club a couple months ago in front of an adoring crowd and can attest that they’re the real deal.)
•    “Head in the Dirt,” by Hanni El Khatib. Young California dude whose rock ‘n’ roll soul is as pure as the driven snow and tinged mostly by garage and blues. His first album, “Will the Guns Come Out,” was one of the year’s best in 2011 and his newest one is better yet. He’ll remind you of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced this album."