Remember when Hersh sounded, well, breakable? This tour de force, her first solo outing since 2003, is punk rock with strings, all spine and no saccharine, filled with songs that cower from nothing. The album's laconic title rings like a comment on a culture so crass it threatens our very perception, but Hersh's spirit is unbowed. Her foreboding rasp, counterposed against gutsy guitars and sturdy percussion, reveals a woman not so much weary of the world as confident in her ability to sort it out. So it is no hollow plea when the former Throwing Muses muse and 50 Foot Wave noisemaker sings, "We are wanted / We are wanted."

-Kevin Bronson