Albums: August 3, 2012

Joss Stone, The Soul Sessions Vol 2
No offense to Stone, who clearly adores her juke-joint source material and has the kind of river-deep-mountain-high pipes that these songs would seem to be made for. But as long as the original recordings by the Chi-Lites and the Rolling Stones continue to exist, Sessions‘ covers are passionately pointless. C+ —Kyle Anderson

Passion Pit, Gossamer
The electro-poppers’ go-for-broke latest could either save a kid’s life or annoy a dude to death. Still, if you can get behind all the cheery falsetto and high-on-life lyrics (sample song title: ”It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy”), their shiny, Flaming Lips-y thing works. B —Ray Rahman

Gloriana, A Thousand Miles Left Behind
The Nashville quartet, now a trio, haven’t suffered since the exit of member Cheyenne Kimbal. Their latest, with its warm harmonizing and sun-drenched melodies, has the kind of authentic, upbeat country sound that Lady Antebellum perfected before ”Need You Now” made them full-time balladeers. A- —Grady Smith