Straylight Run

Saying their "girl singer" is what sets Straylight Run apart in the emo/pop-punk crowd might seem kind of simplistic. But in that theatre of sensitive, tortured testosterone, Michelle Nolan's sultry vocals are a breath of fresh air -- especially in the idiosyncratic worlds her songwriter brother John builds for her and the band. The glockenspiel and accordion on "The Words We Say" or the circus instrumentation and shifting meters on "The Miracle That Never Came" make for cute and quirky tracks. But it's the siblings' pretty harmonies, not to mention their piano skills, that ground the album.