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Joy Division is the new garage rock.

Bands have been ripping off Joy Division for years, but in the last 18 months, they’ve gotten a lot of attention.

Interpol is perhaps the most popular of the bunch, even though it’s not the best. The Stills seem to have a lot potential, but my money is on Longwave.

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness could probably be accused of dipping into the same creative well, and on some level, the Austin, Texas, band could compete with the likes of the aforementioned groups.

But it’s not going to do it with this self-titled debut EP.

Produced by indie rock It-boy Britt Daniel — who hates being associated with indie rock — I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, the recording, possess all the limp fidelity of, well, a Spoon album.

(Yes, I’ve listened to Spoon many times, but like Mishima Yukio novels, I don’t comprehend the appeal.)

The playing is messy, which is fine, but the recording sounds thin. The rhythm section — especially the bass work of Eddie Robert — seems to get lost, and this collection of songs needs a rhythm section with a strong presence.

The opener, “We’re Still the Weaker Sex”, has a lot of untapped potential. Everything on that track could have been bigger — busier guitars, deeper drums — but instead, it’s half a step up from demo quality.

The disc doesn’t really shine till the middle two songs. “I Want To Die In The Hot Summer” hints at how a crisper sound may benefit the band, while “When You Go Out” possesses enough guts to overcome its sonic trappings.

In terms of songwriting, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness crank out a decent set of tunes, atmospheric and just a bit rough. It will be interesting to see how the band stretches that writing out for an entire album, but before then, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness should find a producer who can do it justice.

Is that an acoustic guitar on a … Trail of Dead record? Sounds like it.

The Secret of Elena’s Tomb finds the band exploring the inverse of loud, with “Counting Off the Days”, the fourth track on this five-track EP, sticking to a relatively sparse arrangement and a slower tempo.

But this EP isn’t a token unplugged effort.

Everything that makes … Trail of Dead distinct — seismic shifts within songs, a penchant for distortion and fucking chaotic drumming — is still very much present.

It’s just interspersed with some decidedly quieter moments.

“Mach Schau” distinguishes itself for starting off the EP slowly, not blistering like most every other … Trail of Dead disc, while “All Saints Day” starts off as a close cousin to Sonic Youth’s “Dirty Boots”, till the thundering verses crash in.

But it’s “Crowning of a Heart” which marks the most notably zip in the band’s zag. It almost sounds radio-friendly.

“Intelligence” concludes the EP, first indulging in the quieter aesthetic but then giving way to the white noise of … Trail of Dead’s sturm und drang.

This more nuanced sound fits the band well, and it wouldn’t sound bad stretched over an entire album. But like Source Code and Tags before it, The Secret of Elena’s Tomb feels structurally tight — it’s more a suite than an EP.

As such, the five tracks on Elena’s Tomb feel complete, even if the tweak in … Trail of Dead’s usual modus operandi leaves a listener starving for more.

I know I’m in the minority when I say one of 10,000 Maniacs’ best albums is Love Among the Ruins.

Hell, I’d rank it No. 3 behind The Wishing Chair (#1) and In My Tribe (#2).

Love Among the Ruins was the first album the Maniacs recorded after Natalie Merchant left. Former member John Lombardo re-joined the group and brought singer Mary Ramsey along with him.

The pair, calling themselves John and Mary, had already recorded two albums for Rykodisc while 10,000 Maniacs became darlings of early 90s alt-rock radio. It was easy to mistake the duo for 10,000 Maniacs, especially since Maniacs drummer Jerome Augustinyak and guitarist Rob Buck played on their albums.

However much charisma Merchant possessed, Ramsey was a better fit for the Maniacs’ folk-rock sound, and her sweeter voice rooted the band more to its folk influences than Merchant’s political conscience.

But the death of Buck in 2000 found the two groups separated again — John and Mary going off on their own, with the rest of the Maniacs left to fill Buck’s and Merchant’s shoes.

The Pinwheel Galaxy is John and Mary’s third album, and its first without an overt influence by their once and future compatriots. (Well, not quite — Augustinyak still provides the drumming.)

And they still sound like 10,000 Manaics — early 10,000 Maniacs, that is.

Lombardo introduced Fairport Convention to his former bandmates, and its that influence that still informs his writing. If anything, he’s probably stuck closer to that original sound that his former band in Merchant’s latter days.

Although Buck was a wonderful guitarist, his participation on John and Mary’s earlier albums was a bit distracting. His presence, oddly enough, is missed on The Pinwheel Galaxy, but at the same time, it’s nice to hear John and Mary on their own terms.

Ramsey, in fact, flies solo as a songwriter on three tracks, two of which happen to be most anamolous on the album — the slightly psychedelic “Gaze” and the jazzy instrumental “5 Days in a Balloon”.

John and Mary give a nicely understated interpretation to the traditional “Lady Margaret and Street William”, while “Halo of Stars” and “Vacant Chair” ventures more into the folk half of the duo’s folk-rock sound.

The rest of the album is pretty much more of the same music the pair were producing a decade ago, but Ramsey’s light voice is magnetic enough on its own.

Still, there’s something charmingly dated about The Pinwheel Galaxy, despite attempts at coating the songs in a patina of reverb. No one makes music this unassuming and honest, and it’s been a decade since doing so was considered cool.

I fell in love with Natalie Merchant like everyone else in 1988, when 10,000 Maniacs scored its first hit album with In My Tribe.

And who wouldn’t?

She had a distinctive voice, and she penned literate lyrics. In context, she wasn’t Paula Abdul.

But somewhere along the way, audiences forget there were four other members in the band. Hell, Rob Buck’s guitar work probably has a more forceful presence than Merchant’s vocals.

Yet Merchant was the guiding force of the band, and by the time she left 10,000 Manaics, almost everyone perceived her as a solo artist already, relegating the rest of the group to session players.

Myself? I couldn’t contain my joy when I learned Mary Ramsey was taking over as 10,000 Maniacs’ singer.

I didn’t think much would come from Merchant’s solo career, and as it turned out, nothing much has.

So when the first strains of country fiddle opened The House Carpenter’s Daughter, I thought, “Damn, woman — why didn’t you do this sooner?”

The House Carpenter’s Daughter, Merchant’s first album since leaving Elektra, is something of a covers album — the singer performs traditional material throughout.

Merchant still can’t shake off the dour seriousness that saddled most of her post-10KM work, but with the songs she chose for this album, it works to her advantage.

These songs are time tested, so when Merchant reads “Crazy Man Michael” with an overdramatic flair or puts a dash of soul into “Which Side Are You On”, she can stay true to the song as well as to the canon of her work.

Of course, most traditional songs work best when they’re not overly modernized, which The House Carpenter’s Daughter does quite a bit. In that regard, “Weeping Pilgrim”, “Wayfaring Stranger” and “House Carpenter” stand out for letting Merchant service the song instead of vice versa.

One of 10,000 Manaics’ b-sides, a cover of the Carter Family’s “Wildwood Flower”, demonstrated Merchant sounded fine being a bit more country, something “Solider Soldier” and “Sally Ann” reinforce.

Merchant sings in a lower key nowadays, and that range has a nice resonance when she’s not mumbling.

In all, The House Carpenter’s Daughter is nice marriage of material with performer. Wish she could have done something this daring a lot sooner.