Albums of the week: New records from Leonard Cohen, Lana Del Rey, Django Django and more

The top five:

Django Django Django Django

No, it's got nothing to do with dead jazz guitarists. This British quartet garnered buzz in 2009 with a fresh mix of '60s pop and 21st-century electronics. But here's where it got smart: Instead of riding the hype wave, Django Django hunkered down and honed its songs. For three years. The resulting debut LP is prematurely accomplished. Few new acts work this hard to get it right the first time. Most freshmen bands look at practice in the same manner of Allen Iverson.

All four of these guys sing, in rich, perfect harmonies that recall the Hollies, the Left Banke, etc. But the music underneath is muscular and pulsing. "Waveforms" is the Zombies gone acid house. The glitchy yodeling, hammered tambourines and Monks-like garage chug of "Default" is unlike anything else around, and just freaking cool. My favorite record of the year so far.

Read the rest after the break.