Must-have new releases with Seattle ties

As critics begin to consider the year in review, Seattle artists and labels are releasing albums like crazy: Enter Band of Horses, Grayskul and the Blakes, with fourth-quarter "local album of the year" candidates. Grayskul and the Blakes live in the city proper, but former Seattle-dweller Band of Horses (gone to live in the Carolinas) has perhaps a more permanent, spiritual Seattle residence — kind of like Ken Griffey Jr.

Here is a look at their new releases:

Band of Horses, "Cease to Begin" (Sub Pop): Last year, Band of Horses blew up. Heaped with critical praise and commercial success, Horses' 2006 debut, "Everything All The Time" (Sub Pop), was an instant Northwest classic.

Now relocated from Seattle to South Carolina, the band wrote sophomore album "Cease To Begin" sans half its original songwriting team (ex-Horse Mat Brooke now fronts Grand Archives). Returning to Seattle to record with "Everything" producer Phil Ek (the Shins, Built to Spill), Band of Horses' new album sounds like its old one.

Riding through reverb-soaked pastures, guitars fly past like sudden forests of snow-covered trees. Lead Horse Ben Bridwell's voice is buried brightness, ringing like sonar beneath miles of ocean. Woodsy and grand, Phil Ek's textural genius drenches Cease's simple songs in (now) trademark sepia. Lacking some of "Everything's" muscular glory, "Cease To Begin" is more campfire than bonfire, but still hits all the right notes.

Grayskul, "Bloody Radio" (Rhymesayers Entertainment): Known for moody, cerebral hip-hop as emotionally honest as it is abstract, Seattle rap group Grayskul fashions "Bloody Radio" as an audio sneak-attack: cramming miles of left-field rapping into clean, succinct, club-ready beats, it hits with pop-hop's subliminal force.

Emcees Onry Ozzborn and JFK (members of Northwest underground rap collective Oldominion) pit their wonderfully contrasting styles — bored deadpan and machine-gun blast — against a host of high-profile guest rappers — Slug (Atmosphere), Aesop Rock and Cage — like seasoned vets.

Lead single "Scarecrow" (its video plays on MTV) is instantly catchy and full of Halloween imagery, but the album's best song is "Missing": ghostly singing from Andrea Zollo (Pretty Girls Make Graves) sets a dangerous mood over Onry and JFK's viciously concise, ultra-introspective verses.

Perfecting its own genre on "Bloody Radio," Grayskul's emo/goth rap should appeal to underground and mainstream audiences alike.

The Blakes, "The Blakes" (Light In the Attic): Much has been written about Seattle trio the Blakes' rip-off style, and most of it's true.

The Blakes (out on Aurora Avenue-based label Light In the Attic) sound like the Strokes, the Kinks, the White Stripes and the Cure, and its derivativeness — plus the fact Bob Husak (drums) and brothers Garnet (guitar, vocals) and Snow Keim (bass, vocals) look and dress like rock-star pinups from the 1970s — has some critics calling the Blakes' bluff.

But there's really no bluff to call. The Blakes deliver cool-guy rock with bristling energy and real-deal charm, capturing rock & roll's reckless spirit with utter sincerity and zero pretentiousness. "Two Times," "Pistol Grip" and "Streets" are explosive, irony-free scorchers; "Lint Walk" is soft, pretty garage rock; "Commit" is the sound of the Strokes hedging no hipster bets. Scruffy-sweet make-out anthem "Don't Bother Me" is already a local radio hit.

The Blakes' music doesn't reward academic analysis, but its soundtrack-to-your-life vibe does reward repeated listens.

How do you hate a band that just wants to kiss girls and rock out? You don't. The Blakes are fun.

Andrew Matson contributes to Seattle hip-hop sites raindrophustla.blogspot.com and 206proof.com. Reach him at matson.andrew@gmail.com