Album: Todd Snider, Peace Queer, (CRS)

A brief eight-song cycle exploring the way our world turns us into "winners" and, by extension, warriors.

Snider is himself a peace queer and so his address to this theme comes freighted with irony, as well as the tropes of ornery old American music. Indeed, 'PQ' is a gorgeously atmospheric experience, from its opening acoustic Bo Diddleyisms via its unaccompanied versifications to its blues. A sort of Jesse Winchester for the 21st century, but funnier. He deserves your interest.

Pick of the album: 'Dividing the Estate (A Heart Attack)': slug it to yourself