What the Creative Loafing music team is listening to this Monday to get us through the day and rocket launch the week… Click here to check out previous entries.

Scott – The Weakerthans, Reconstruction Site (2003)

John K. Sampson's eloquent, compelling pop-rock paeans to history, life in Winnipeg and listening to your cat when your cat is trying to tell you to snap out of your depression never get old. Equal parts melancholy, fun and infectious, these tunes very nearly equal those on the Canadian foursome's high-water mark, Left & Leaving, which turns ten years old this month.

Leilani – of Montreal, False Priest (out Sept. 14 on Polyvinyl)

A good friend who's also an of Montreal freak heard a few tracks off this album and concluded it wasn't up to par. But he was wrong, utterly and completely. Though it doesn't have the masterful ADD-manic ferocity of Skeletal Lamping, it is definitely high-quality solid material, synthtastic and groovy and full of Kevin Barnes' usual too-clever-for-his-own-good lyricism, the sort that makes you snort out loud …

Jeff – The Murderdolls, Women and Children Last (out Aug. 31 on Roadrunner Records)

Although The Murderdolls consider Women and Children Last their debut album, it's actually the band's second release. But, the fact that there's been more than eight years between the two CDs does make it seem like a debut. The album is classic horror metal rock. Think Alice Cooper mixed with a little Rob Zombie and a dash of GWAR, and you'll start to get the idea. The CD is being released with some bonus tracks and there is even a live DVD available. I'll be posting a review soon.

– Joe Jackson, I'm The Man (1979)

To refer to Joe Jackson's sophomore effort as a "new wave classic" is to sell it short. It's like referring to the Mona Lisa as a pretty nice painting. Jackson's wit and venom were at an all-time high at the dawning of the 1980's and this album helped launch him as the quintessential "angry young man" that he and Elvis Costello were often referred as at the time. Infectious, hook-laden and catchy as hell, I'm The Man has only gotten better with age. Still waiting for a solid punk band to tackle the title track that's always begged for a faithful cover version … but it would be hard to find anyone who could match Jackson and his fine band in the areas of cynicism, humor and rocket fuel.

Taylor – The Return of the Native (Audiobook on CD, 1985)

"…If velvet could speak, it would sound like Rickman." — Sandy Bauers, Sacramento Bee, February 14, 1999 … I can't put it more perfectly than that. This recording qualifies as music.

This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.