The fall deluge of album releases has begun. Here are reviews of five albums out Tuesday.

Lady Antebellum, 'Own the Night' (Capitol Nashville)

Like its last album, "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" capitalizes on soaring vocal harmonies and alternates between youthful energy and earnest vulnerability. "Need You Now" was a tough act to follow: It won lead vocalists Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley and multi-instrumentalist Dave Haywood five Grammys last year and sold 5 million copies. "Own the Night" is arguably more sophisticated than its predecessor, which may win new fans, but it doesn't have many of the strong melodic hooks that typically make for country hit singles.

The tune "We Own the Night" starts things off with the trio's trademark tight harmonies and a peppy, fast-paced delivery. "Just a Kiss," the album's first single, is heavy on drum and guitar and comes across as an overstuffed pop ballad. The album's most affecting songs are its saddest: The swaying melody of "Dancin' Away with My Heart" seems tailor-made for slow dancing. "Cold as Stone," the prettiest song, combines mournful bluegrass sensibilities, layered string and flute melodies and strong chemistry between Scott and Kelley. Fans of Scott's lilting voice will like the way it takes center stage on "When You Were Mine" and "As You Turn Away."

A handful of sharper, more upbeat tunes may be this record's best shot for a crowd-pleasing breakout: "Friday Night," with its heavy electric-guitar licks; "Singing Me Home," which sounds a little like Springsteen; and the cheerfully romantic "The Love I've Found in You."

Christy Karras,

Special to The Seattle Times

Blitzen Trapper, 'American Goldwing' (Sub Pop)

Our region is currently hot for throwback, roots-ish music, with Sub Pop and Hardly Art stoking the movement. A side effect has been a general bar-lowering, with lots of musicians seeing the vague aesthetic space around the genre as a good opportunity but producing relatively few memorable moments. Blitzen Trapper stands out by playing it straight, writing energetic, hook-filled songs that might have been hits in the '70s, marked by technical competence and a sunny, psychedelic edge.

Sixth album "American Goldwing" glows with interwoven guitars and singer Eric Earley's Bob Dylan-esque voice, always lacquered by some other element: harmonica, steel guitar, piano, Casio keys. "Street Fighting Sun" is a highlight: muscly guitar riffs serving scuzzy pop rock, didgeridoo and banjo showing up for an unexpected coda. The overall fuzzy jangle of the album is indebted to early-period Grateful Dead and the simple-smart songwriting of Tom Petty — with a little T. Rex and Thin Lizzy.

Andrew Matson, Seattle Times blogger (Matsononmusic.com)

The Gourds, "Old Mad Joy" (Vanguard)

For their 11th studio album, country/roots eclectics The Gourds have signed for the first time with a major label. And for the first few tracks you can't help but wonder if they — with Levon Helms' producer Larry Campbell — polished things up too much. Clean-cut melodies, too much repetition and restrained vocals lead us into "Old Mad Joy." But by track four the suspenders are unbuttoned, unleashing the more-energy/less-perfection of the Austin, Texas group's live shows.

On "Haunted," singer Max Johnston scoops through a satisfying country cry break. "Peppermint City" is a joyful, mumbled, hand-clapping blues number. "Melchert," with its Doors-approved organ riff, has some typically Gourds-weird imagery. (Decipher this: "Pan epidemic in the popcorn bucket/Chase the dragon you say ante well up it.") Per usual, there are ample instruments and styles (the opening track is flavored with accordion-pumped Zydeco). But country is at the core, and the album's most captivating moments come when the band plays loose, pairing dark, erudite lyrics with steel guitar, sawing fiddle and gospel swells.

Joanna Horowitz, Special to The Seattle Times

Roy Haynes, "Roy-alty" (Dreyfus)

Drummer Roy Haynes recorded with Charlie Parker in the '40s, Chick Corea in the '60s and Roy Hargrove in the '00s and here he is in 2011, still full of buoyant, mischievous joy, revisiting Corea and Hargrove with an all-youngster group, the Fountain of Youth Quartet.

Haynes splits rhythmic space wide open so soloists can ride any number of waves successfully or at the same time, a percolating freedom you can hear best when he plays Thelonious Monk's "Off Minor" with Corea, but splashy young Martin Bejerano rings some bells on McCoy Tyner's "Passion Dance," too. Hargrove shines ballad bright on "These Foolish Things," to which alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw adds an ingeniously melodic solo. Shaw's big, warm tone are also showcased to good advantage on the 1955 movie theme ballad "Pinky."

Great to hear Roy reminiscing about New York in the '40s on Dizzy's "Tin Tin Deo." Great to hear Roy do anything.

Paul de Barros, Seattle Times jazz critic

Wild Flag, 'Wild Flag' (Merge)

Wild Flag's self-titled debut is that rare supergroup album that sounds as if the band's been playing for years.

Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss were two-thirds of Olympia legend Sleater- Kinney, and in their heyday played or shared bills with the other members of Wild Flag — Helium's Mary Timony and keyboardist Rebecca Cole. While it's refreshing to hear Brownstein and Weiss reprise their familiar, edgy combination of guitar and drums, Wild Flag allows them chances for new styles and strategies. For one thing, "Wild Flag" is one of this year's best guitar records: Brownstein and Timony have a loose rhythm-lead dialogue that's fascinating to hear, liable to leap from jagged lyricism to raw power at a moment's notice.

Although it's a thoroughly contemporary indie album, Wild Flag looks toward classic rock styles. The astonishing "Racehorse" is an extended blues-rocker with Led Zeppelin indulgences, right down to Brownstein's deconstructed Robert Plant vocal imitation; her hilariously overstated vocals on the new-wave-informed "Boom" bring to mind an embarrassing '80s Polaroid blurred by spilled whiskey.

Paul Pearson, Special to The Seattle Times