Album Briefs:

*** Rise Robots Rise, “Rise Robots Rise,” TVT. If Steely Dan and Sly & the Family Stone locked themselves in a room with “Revolver” for a week and then merged to form a rap group, it might sound something like this New York ensemble. RRR’s debut album blends funky soul and sweet psychedelia to capture musically the longing and hard-bitten realism of the lyrics, which explore the personal, political and planetary perils of the times. For all the realism, the sweetness does prevail.