In Brief

Great punch line: Former American Music Club leader Eitzel closes his new album (due Tuesday) with “Proclaim Your Joy,” a snappy ditty about how important and easy it is to do just that. He’s built a career by proclaiming his misery, which is what he does on the rest of this album, where imaginatively nuanced electronics give new shades to the darkness behind his floating croon. Envying those for whom joy comes easily is just another way to feel bad, which is good for his art.

*

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.