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Acute, "Arms Around a Stranger" (Help Records)

This L.A. trio specializes in heavily synthesized pop/rock soundscapes, which often delve into straight-ahead power pop ("The City"). The baritone vocals can be haunting and seductive.

These guys are fond of punctuation, as on the orchestral "You Want It? Take It! It's Yours!" driven by a fluegelhorn that's very up-front, and the country-tinged "Rip Your Heart Out!" "Saint" is also a country-tinged lament to a dying friend accented with strings and pedal steel guitar.

There are endless pop melodies to spare ("Trouble") and gratifying wordplay throughout, as on the up-tempo love song "Take a Step Back": "I can't love you if you're never coming back"; on "Trouble": "Got a mouth with words that won't come out. Got a heart that's riddled with self-doubt. Got dreams that haunt my waking life and means to sedate my troubles at night"; and "Rip Your Heart Out!": "You say you've had love in your pockets, but your pockets are now filled with holes."

Guitar fuzz anchors "Follow You Home," a pop rocker about revenge on a rival who's stolen a girlfriend, while horns bring a longing ache to the orchestral "You Could End Up in Love." The disc ends with "When We're Alone," 11-plus minutes of moody atmospherics about love, sex and intimacy.

Acute, which is augmented by a keyboardist while on tour, is one of the opening acts for Jesse Malin at the Launchpad, 618 Central S.W. Leiahdorus also shares the stage at 9 p.m. on June 25. $8. 21 and over. 764-8887. Buy tickets.

Marnie Stern, "In Advance of the Broken Arm" (Kill Rock Stars)

This Brooklyn trio's namesake is a female shredder with a finger-tapping guitar technique that rises above the din of these dissonant sound collages. Stern's vocals are reminiscent of Karen O's of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, when they aren't chantlike, as on "Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!!" (She's also partial to punctuation.)

These melodic noise merchants - including Hella's Zach Hill on drums - bring together mix-and-match pieces that more often than not work on some primitive level. "Every Single Line Means Something" is an ironic lament about modern life, while "This American Life" is the American "dream" as a living nightmare.

"Precious Metal" is a blast of math rock, "Healer" is a heady melodic rush, while the risqué "Letters From Rimbaud" is the most melodic tune on the disc.

Stern also has a way with words (at least the intelligible ones). The deceiving "Patterns of a Diamond Ceiling" is soft-loud-louder with most of the vocal part spoken word. She's philosophical on ". . . Basket!!!" when she intones, "Time is what keeps us going"; while issuing a warning on "Logical Volume": "Been under the radar much too long/watch me come along."

This is "not" easy listening by any measure, but is truly rewarding for the adventurous.

Marnie Stern, the trio, supports Battles on June 27 at the Launchpad. Ponytail opens the 21-and-over show at 9 p.m. $8.

Dinosaur Jr, "Beyond" (Fat Possum Records)

This is the first record from the iconic '80s-'90s alt-rock power trio in 10 years, and the first studio disc of new music in 19 years to feature the original lineup of J Mascis on guitars and vocals, Lou Barlow on bass and backing vocals and Murph on drums.

The groundwork for this disc was laid in 2005 when the band's first three classic discs - "Dinosaur," "You're Living All Over Me" and "Bug" - were remastered and reissued, and the three guys went on a yearlong (originally three-month) reunion tour.

But judging by the music on "Beyond," it's as if they'd never broken up. Mascis still proffers a heavy guitar strangle, alternately subdued and blistering. His laconic vocal delivery is laid-back with a built-in ache.

The trio's mix of punk and metal with classic rock is evident throughout. The guitar break and killer riffs on "Pick Me Up" recall Neil Young; the rocker "What If I Knew" (these guys eschew punctuation) raves on feedback; and tribal beats and massive riffage propel "It's Me." "We're Not Alone" possesses a country lilt, while a cello/viola grounds the ghostly lament "I Got Lost."

Two Barlow-penned tunes made the cut: the mellow throb of "Back to Your Heart" and the psychedelic Mideast vibe of "Lightning Bulb."

This is a worthy addition to the Dinosaur Jr canon. Play it loud!

A companion piece to "Beyond" is the DVD "Dinosaur Jr: Live In The Middle East" (Image Entertainment), which was recorded at the Boston nightclub in December 2005 during the reunion tour.

The DVD has a live set of 18 Dinosaur Jr classics including "Little Fury Things," "Lose," "Forget the Swan," "SludgeFeast" and "Freak Scene," as well as a cover of "Just Like Heaven" (who knew the Dino guys were Cure fans?) as the encore.

There is also behind-the scenes footage, band interviews, and interviews with such band fans as Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and ex-Minutemen Mike Watt.