** The Negro Problem, “Joys & Concerns,”...

** The Negro Problem, “Joys & Concerns,” Aerial Flipout. Frontman Mark Stewart’s abundant musical and lyrical cleverness carries the second indie album from this Silver Lake favorite. But his vision is generally backward--making a metaphor from lost joys of Disneyland (“Mahnsanto”), crafting coed vocal counterpoint, understated brass and velvety chord changes that evoke Francoise Hardy and Jackie DeShannon. It doesn’t seem quite enough to transcend local hero-dom. The group plays the Troubadour on Tuesday, the day of the album’s release.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.