Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear, "Skeleton Crew"

The Vaccines

“ENGLISH GRAFFITI”

Columbia Records

The Vaccines are one of countless British rock bands saddled by the U.K. media with the expectation of saving rock and roll. The reckless rock on their first two albums, 2011’s cheekily titled “What Do You Expect From the Vaccines?” and 2012’s “Come of Age” couldn’t live up to the hype — what could? — but they were nonetheless brazen and fun. “English Graffiti,” on the other hand, reveals a band with an identity crisis.

Produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Sleater-Kinney), the record dabbles in glammy football chants (“Handsome”), trudging synth-pop (“Dream Lover”), and Duran Duran-like new wave (“Minimal Affection”). Those are the first three of 12 tracks that slip all over the place without resting comfortably anywhere. There’s some fun stuff here, mostly when the Vaccines turn up the velocity and the guitars on “20/20” and “Radio Bikini,” but much of English Graffiti rings hollow.

— Steve Klinge,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Vincent Herring

“NIGHT AND DAY”

Smoke Sessions Records

The alto saxophonist Vincent Herring projects his sound in a strong, centered beam, and even his most intense moments suggest a controlled combustion. You could chalk that up to experience — Herring, 50, has been playing seriously since his teens — but it probably has as much to do with disposition. There’s footage of him with Horace Silver’s band in the 1980s, sounding like he does now, slashing but calm.

So maybe it’s the suggestion of something held in reserve that has kept Herring from an A-list solo career. Or maybe it’s the idea that he has followed in the wake of Cannonball Adderley, an alto saxophone hall of famer whose style he can willfully evoke. Whatever the case, Herring should have a higher profile, as he confirms with a smart new album, “Night and Day.”

As with Herring’s 2013 album — “The Uptown Shuffle,” recorded live at Smoke Jazz Club and released on the Smoke Sessions label — the music here puts a contemporary spin on hard-bop, with a rhythm team of Brandi Disterheft on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums. But whereas that album featured a quartet, this one involves a quintet with the pianist Mike LeDonne and an excellent trumpeter, Jeremy Pelt, out front.

Herring and Pelt have a crisp and jostling rapport, and in moments like a headlong dash through Donald Byrd’s “Fly, Little Bird, Fly,” each elevates the other’s game. The meat-and-potatoes repertory — some “I Got Rhythm” changes, some blues, the Cole Porter tune that lends the album its title — doesn’t pose a limitation for them.

And when Herring tips his hat, as on an original, “The Adventures of Hyun Joo Lee,” named for one of his students and built over a chord sequence by John Coltrane, he sounds unburdened by expectations. Still, there’s no doubting his sincerity on “Theme for Jobim,” composed by a dearly missed former mentor, Cedar Walton — or on “Walton,” a swinging homage by LeDonne, which elicits one of the album’s juiciest alto solos.

— Nate Chinen,

New York Times

Chris Stapleton

“TRAVELLER”

Mercury Nashville

Anyone paying attention to country and Americana over the last decade and a half is familiar with the name Chris Stapleton. He’s written hits for stars such as George Strait and Luke Bryan, become a favored harmony vocalist on big-name releases, and performed with the edgy bluegrass band the Steeldrivers. Now comes this stunner of a solo debut.

“Traveller” is not close to being a typical major-label Nashville production. It’s no coincidence that one song is titled “Outlaw State of Mind.” Working with his own small band, augmented by Waylon Jennings’ steel player (Robby Turner) and Willie Nelson’s harmonica man (Mickey Raphael), Stapleton goes for a lean, raw sound that underscores the blunt honesty of his songs.

The singer-guitarist cranks it up for the rocking urgency of “Parachute,” and the twangy chip-kicking of “Nobody to Blame.” Most of the time, though, Stapleton is not afraid to let the songs unfold at an unhurried pace. Among the highlights: He transforms the old “Tennessee Whiskey,” one of two non-originals on the album, into a transcendent soul ballad, and he strips “Whiskey and You,” previously cut by Tim McGraw and others, down to just acoustic guitar and voice, for a devastating version that reclaims the song for himself.

— Nick Cristiano

The Philadelphia Inquirer