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Listeners of The Hold Steady's classic rock sounds may also want to have on hand some resources - namely a Bible and a background in pop culture - in order to decode the lyrics.

John Doe is the founder and bass player for X, the 1980s punk-rock band. He's also an actor, appearing on such TV shows as Carnivale and Roswell. He kicks off our annual summer "what are you reading" feature with an eclectic list ranging from the L.A.-noirish John Fante to Louise Erdrich and Natsuo Kirino.

His former band Wall of Voodoo broke up in 1983, but Stan Ridgway is still spinning stories of intriguing, eccentric characters in song. He talks to NPR's Liane Hansen about his new CD.

Members of the British punk band The Mekons have been making music together for about 30 years now. Though they started as contrarian rockers inspired by The Sex Pistols, their new album, Natural, is mostly acoustic.

Two new offerings show her versatility on clarinet and tenor sax. On Poetica, the Tel Aviv-born New Yorker leads a small jazz combo and a string quartet. Then there's Noir, a CD that celebrates a modified big-band sound.

The bluegrass-based folk-rock band knows how to play at extreme speeds, but its new album is a thoughtful, stately grower — a far cry from the fiery freneticism of Trampled by Turtles' live shows.

The SoCal punk band's Smiths obsession makes for a confident, focused, 19-minute record that still gleefully indulges in pick scrapes and fast three-chord songs.

The last decade has seen a marked softening in Blonde Redhead's sound, to the point where the quietest moments on Barragán don't sound like songs so much as vapors infused with tunes.

On this week's episode, hear host Bob Boilen's discoveries from the Iceland Airwaves festival, as well as new music from TV on the Radio, Caribou and more.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks is the third album from the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit. Though dark, it's less melancholy than their previous records, and draws inspiration from the rural Scottish village where frontman Scott Hutchison penned its songs.