The Faint, TV on the Radio, Beep Beep

Wet From Birth, the latest album by Nebraskan electro-goth pin-ups the Faint, doesn't feature the reappropriated '80s synth-pop melodies 2001's Danse Macabre did. Instead, it finds the band exploring the endless possibilities of studio texture, which can portend a night of no-fun noodling onstage; luckily the band's live show remains a reliable source of proudly pervy white-person bump 'n' grind. New Yorkers TV on the Radio make circuitous art-rock that's sublimely funky if you can get past the clouded underwater atmosphere. Desultory emo-skronk tyros Beep Beep, from Omaha, suggest a dip in quality control at their trendsetting record label, Saddle Creek.