GANSER Animal Hospital (Felte) — The Chicago band Ganser make a bleak, blistering noise on their new album, Animal Hospital. The group’s first full-length outing in five years and their third overall find them in radiant, bristling form. Pared down to a trio, Ganser keeps post-punk as the foundation of their sound while pressing against the borders of the subgenre. “Speaking of the Future” takes on a gothy shimmer, and “stripe” is imbued with arch, enticing electronica. Sophie Sputnik’s lead vocals crackle with life and personality, sending the songs soaring like they’re boosted by rocket fuel. Individual tracks can be filled with such vibrant spirit that they can sound downright gigantic; the ravishing “Ten Miles Tall” comes to mind. The band casts a fierce spell across the album. Every sonic move seems design to lure the listener in and wrap them up tight. The grand dark disco of “Discount Diamonds” is as enveloping as a fog. The Liars’ Angus Andrew, a regular collaborator of the band, helps out with the album’s production and gives it a forthright certainty. In every way, Animal Hospital is locked in. Check the vitals on these cuts: “Black Sand,” “Dig Until I Reach the Moon,” “Creature Habits,” and “Plato.”

THE BETHS Straight Line Was a Lie (Anti-) — Straight Line Was a Lie opens with a false start. After a hiccup of guitar, there’s the muttered admission “I was thinking of something else” before the Beths begin again, soaring through a gem of a title cut. That’s the last time on this record that the New Zealand group shows any hesitancy whatsoever. The Beths’ fourth studio album is their first for Anti-, and it serves as a fine showcase for the crisp songwriting of frontwoman Elizabeth stokes and the pinpoint playing of the whole band. The Beths stick with the sort of delightfully off-kilter and riveting pop-rock that their fellow New Zealanders in the Chills used to commandeer college radio playlists a couple generations back. The single “Metal” is even the right kind of jangly to evoke the bygone era when every left-of-the-dial band was chasing R.E.M. They bring a headlong energy to “No Joy” and bear an uncanny resemblance to Allo Darlin’ on “Roundabout.” On the evidence of these ten tracks, the Beths aren’t distracted from making their dandy music. Make a beeline to these tracks: “Mother, Pray for Me,” “Take,” and “Best Laid Plans.”

JEHNNY BETH You Heartbreaker, You (Fiction) — When Jehnny Beth sang with Savages, she unmistakably took command of every song, every room, every moment. Her second solo album, You Heartbreaker, You, finds her nestling more deeply into the music and yet still remaining firmly, fiercely at the center. Co-produced and co-written with French musician Johnny Hostile (who also plays multiple instruments on these recordings), the album is a series of quick, hard jabs. Three and a half minutes is the max length for an individual track and the whole affair wraps up in under a half hour. It’s a whirlwind of delirious impressions: “Obsession” is like early Nine Inch Nails, “Stop Me Now” borrows the jackhammer fury of Sonic Youth, and “I Still Believe” is best understood as an exploding star made into a dark dance track. Beth is clearly fascinated by all the ways she can shape a song, as evidenced by the grinding album closer “I See Your Pain” and its shifts between spare and epic. In the very best interpretation of the word, savage remains the proper descriptor for her creativity. In addition to those already mentioned, check these tracks: “Broken Rib,” “No Good for People,” and “Reality.”