CD REVIEWS POP/ROCK

CD REVIEWS POP/ROCK

Devendra Banhart, "What Will We Be" (Warner Bros.)

When Banhart released "Oh Me Oh My" in 2002 on Young God Records, critics immediately crowned him the prince of the burgeoning New Weird America scene. It didn't quite fit the Texan-cum-Venezuelan: Banhart's not a ruler; he's the people's troubadour.

On his latest recording, "What Will We Be," the 28-year-old steps back from his early, raw intensity with a creased collection of drifting tunes freshly produced by A Band of Bees' Paul Butler. He filches from a variety of genres -- Brazilian Tropicalia, glam rock, lounge jazz, Zeppelin-like psychedelia -- but it never sounds awkward. He loosens the stitches on each to fashion his own unique costume. "Take me as I am or might become," Banhart sings in a slurry whisper on "Goin' Back," one of the most laid-back songs he's ever recorded, with its finger-picked chords and beach-sandy drums.

Playing with the same ensemble that backed him on 2007's "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon," Banhart's first outing on a major label is not a concession to the big guns, but rather an attuned jog through their artistic obstacle course.

MARGARET WAPPLER, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, "Rob Zombie Presents Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, Music From 'Halloween 2' " (Stag)

Captain Clegg is really Jesse Dayton, the dynamic young Texas country-rocker who also was behind the fictitious country act Banjo & Sullivan, which provided music for the original "Halloween" movie.

This time out, Dayton goes for a mash-up of trashy, fuzz-toned garage-rock and twangy barroom honky-tonk, and he lets his imagination run wild with over-the-top scenarios like "Transylvania Terror Train," "Headless Hip-Shaking Honey" and "Redneck Vixen." It's all great, cheesy fun. And with "Honky-Tonk Halloween" ("drinking doubles in a double-wide"), he's come up with a swinging anthem that should become an All Hallows Eve standard.

NICK CRISTIANO, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER